Title: The Truth in Lies
Setting: Early Winter, 1993: The Realm of Dungeons & Dragons
Summary: On the alert now for a possible double-cross, the Champions have started to plot against their own guide.
xxx
December 17, 1992:
The journey over the Shifting Sands went slowly as Eric picked his way over and around the deceptive sand-colored traps. Fortunately, even in daylight, Presto's spell lit the real sand up, giving away where pitfalls were - - as long as the sand shifted off of the rocks. Several times Eric stepped directly onto a sandy patch only to have the sand shift away and reveal the opening pit below his hoof.
About midday, everyone passed around dry rations and waterskins, Terri trying very carefully to help Eric from her awkward angle on his back; no one wanted the girl to get down. Presto was the first to have to relieve himself walking. He took off his outer robes and passed them up to Terri then silently, flushing, did his business in his trousers before walking again. It was humiliating but no one drew attention to his discomfort or indignity. Soon, all of them would have to do the same thing.
Eric seemed the most reluctant of the party but eventually even he had to go, forcing the others to have to pick their way carefully around or over his waste. The unicorn kept his head pointed forward and never protested when he heard Terri's embarrassed sob.
Everyone felt more miserable than they had in a very long time.
In early evening, Presto re-cast the glowing spell, giving everyone a chance to stand still for a few minutes. But the break ended all too quickly. Everyone felt determined to get through this place and not linger, so they took up the slow plod again. The spell had to be re-cast just before dawn.
Midmorning on the second day, an exhausted Terri spotted a very welcome sight; she had been the only one to get any sort of sleep and that hadn't been much. "Guys! I see bushes and nothing's glowing just there!" She pointed one dirty hand, sand and wind having grimed everyone lightly.
Looking over, each Champion determined Terri had indeed spotted an end to the Shifting Sands. Eric let out a dejected sounding neigh and kept moving, just as carefully as before. Despite their eagerness to leave this treacherous pitfall-laden desert strip, everyone had to agree: it wouldn't do to blindly run for solid land and wind up in a pit just as they had bested the obstacle.
Eric let out another neigh, this one sounding energized, as he stepped from the drifting brightly glowing sands onto obvious caked earth and gravel. He nearly pranced a couple of steps in celebration then walked far enough away from the danger to encounter some sparse bushes. He neighed and turned, watching the others approach him, looking a mix of pleased, exhausted, and embarrassed. All of them were grime encrusted and smelled of bodily waste.
Dara, almost sounding smug, claimed, "No water." She gestured around the landscape. Not even a trickle flowed.
Presto suspected she'd have already known that about the geography but he simply stated, "let's get Terri off Eric. Ladies to that side of the track behind those bushes. Guys over here. Everyone strip down. Get Eric's saddle and stuff off. Spread everything out."
"Presto, we don't have a way to clean our bodies. Even the spare clothes will get nasty," Sheila pointed out as she helped Diana slide Terri from the dirtied saddle.
"Just, please, trust me," Presto asked calmly. He slipped behind the assigned imen's bushes/i and called, "let me know when, guys."
"Cold!" Dara indignantly protested, but a glare from Uni hushed her and even the guide obeyed Presto's orders.
"Okay, Presto. We're ready over here," Diana called after several minutes.
Just a moment later, Hank clarified, "all set. Go ahead, Presto."
"Whatcha gonna do?" Bobby asked, loud enough to be heard by the women.
"Make it rain," Presto answered. He pulled his hat out of the pocket of his discarded pants then held it out, using the other hand to send his fingers gently cascading up from the hat and then down towards the ground.
Summer warmth
Flowing thus
Let the rains
Shower us
Presto didn't have to wait; the rain began immediately, coming from his hat and rising into the air then gently showering over the entire road. The water held the warmth of a midsummer rain and the strength to wash in without being painful. Presto didn't say anything as he let the rain continue, not breaking his concentration so that everyone could have time to bathe and clean their clothes and gear. He barely registered Hank washing him and Bobby washing Eric after they'd finished their own showers. No one lingered, intent on cleaning the gear, too, before the spell ended.
Half an hour later, Presto sagged and the rain stopped. Before anyone could say anything, the Wizard made a sweeping gesture from his hat over the area, not a harsh one but not a gentle fluttering either.
Warm and good
Breezes high
Sweeping down
Us to dry
Presto again didn't move, concentrating on keeping the sudden warm breeze from tapering off too quickly or increasing to a painful gale. As the Champions hurried to dry themselves and their belongings, the Wizard alone remained still, eyes closed to block out all external sights. Thus he was unaware when Eric stepped in front of him, shielding him from the view of anyone coming around the bushes to help out with the unicorn's barding and saddle.
When Presto couldn't hold the spell accurately anymore, he let it cancel, not taking the chance of letting it taper off in case something went wrong. He opened golden eyes as he sank to one knee, Hank instantly at his side with Eric's saddle blanket, wrapping the now dry blanket around the equally dry man.
Hank took over once more and called, "everyone get dressed. We're setting up camp right here since Presto's wind also dried the ground. I don't want anyone going closer towards those sands. If we can't find enough wood, huddle together and have dry rations. We'll move out tomorrow." Lowering his voice, the Ranger said, "I'll help you dress, Presto, then you get some sleep. You can stand an extra watch later if you're up to it."
The Wizard nodded and let his friend and former brother help him dress. Curling up in Eric's saddle blanket, beside the warm unicorn, Presto fell into a deep sleep of exhaustion. Even Terri settling down beside him and wrapping in Presto's discarded robes didn't wake him. He wasn't aware when Terri slipped his hat under Eric's body to hide it.
Hank, sitting beside Dara at the campfire, watched Terri settle beside Presto and Eric. He finally took his attention off the trio and looked at the rest of his group: Bobby, Sheila, Diana, Uni, and Dara. "That was too close. We've had some bad, nearly fatal accidents, Dara. I think you don't want to scare us by giving away what you know. But we don't need protecting. We need the truth so we can avoid things like giants and trapped sand."
Widening her baby blue eyes, the guide shook her head, blonde curls bouncing. "Dara not know," she insisted.
"You didn't know the giants played with the rocks like a game? Or that the shifting sands uncovered traps?" Hank pressed, challenging Dara in her obvious lies.
Frowning, Dara looked away, towards the sleeping Wizard and Dreamer beside the very much alert unicorn. "Not wander. Wander home," Dara insisted. She lifted a hand to point to Terri. "Terri sick. Wander home."
Bobby growled out, not caring if he scared the jumpy guide, "No! Terri is staying with us. No one's leaving, Dara, so you can just forget that idea. We're going, as a group, to the Singing Forest to see Heart's Unity to get the cure for the curses and the undead sicknesses that are at the camp. If you want to be paid, you'll stop fucking around and help us!"
"Bobby!" Sheila hissed, shocked. "Watch your language!"
"Sheila, don't try me," Bobby growled back at his older sister. "You pushed me through that portal and I had to try for nine damn years to get back to you guys. Since then, I've watched a wall fall on a friend, been swarmed by undead and Orcs, seen goddamned Tiamat fall from the sky. Dekion was shot by a lich, Rahmoud's flesh was seared from his body, Eric and Hank were torn up, and Eric was turned into a unicorn."
"And," Bobby stood and paced in agitation, no one interrupting the long coming burst of anger the normally volatile young man had held back so long. "Eric nearly drowned in a damn swamp, Uni and Eric ate poison, Dara was almost crushed by a falling boulder, Terri's been having seizures, and I've nearly been trapped in a rock hole half the size of my bedroom closet back home . . . with a damn dead guy no less! I'm not playing nice anymore. I'm sick of our group being hurt and scared. And I want the true answers, not some sugar coated lie meant to sooth us into continuing on."
He whirled to glare at Dara, who literally cringed into Diana. Bobby pointed directly at the young woman, his voice shaking. "We aren't giving up. We aren't turning around no matter how terrifying or dangerous. So give us the damn truth and stop messing with us. You, Dara," he pointed again, "are gonna get one of us killed by holding back. And if you don't intend to share, I'll leave you right here to find your own way back. I'm not kidding!" He ended by crossing his arms, club clutched tightly in his right hand, a glare on his normally sunny face.
Dara had paled considerably during Bobby's tirade. She stared up at him, eyes wide, but she didn't seem to be holding back tears; her eyes were dry. Instead, she spoke, again, no sign of being cowed, her tones strong and sure, if quiet. "Dara wander Crystal Water. Dara turn back. Too deep. Too big. Dangerous."
Bobby didn't sit, and he didn't lessen his glower. "So, the Crystal Waters is a big river. Can you see the other side?" His angry tone softened as the guide seemed to be trying to cooperate.
"No," Dara shook her head, blonde ringlets bouncing. "Dara not see. Too big."
Softly, surprising the group none-the-less, Sheila asked, "how many were with you on that journey, Dara?"
"Dara . . ."
Diana cut the guide off, "the truth, Dara. How many?"
Turning her gaze to Diana, Dara thought for a moment then said, "six. Dara with five. All hire. Dara not know good."
"And how many lived, Dara?" Diana gentled her tone to match Sheila's.
"Dara . . ." the blond guide started then sighed and added, "and healer. Healer not stay. Healer wander. Group die after."
"Shit," Bobby sank to the ground and ran a hand over his face. "Only you and some guy who left the group early?"
"Dara live," Dara nodded. "Healer wander. Others dead."
"You were part of a group of hired adventurers," Hank reiterated, translating what she'd said, "and didn't know them well. Were you their guide?"
With a shake of her head, Dara said, "not guide. Hunter. Spell maker guide. Spell maker go Sing Trees. Hire Dara hunt."
"And how many other times had you gone on this path?" Bobby asked, trying to control his anger, keeping his shaking voice low to not disturb Terri or Presto.
"Not. One time. Hunter," Dara explained in her very broken fashion.
Hank looked over his group then back at Dara. "You've only been on this trail once . . ."
"Where did you get the map, Dara?" Sheila asked gently. The guide startled anyway and turned to Sheila with a frown, but the Thief raised a hand. "You have a map that leads all the way to the forest, but you've never been there. Where did you get the map?"
Studying Sheila a long moment, Dara finally seemed to relent. She answered, stiffly, "spell maker dead. Dara map."
"But you left the group at the river," Diana jumped in, frowning. "You took the map before they could finish the journey?"
"All dead!" Dara insisted, sounding angry. "No Healer. All dead. Healer let die." She stood and walked over to her pack and began rummaging through it, her posture stiff with her anger.
The five friends turned to one another, looking grim and troubled. Hank shook his head and lowered his tone to a bare whisper only the other four were close enough to hear. "I'm thinking . . . and I know this isn't a fair leap, but I think Dara stole the map and either deserted them or killed them."
"What about the healer she's talking about? What happened to make him wander off?" Sheila asked, her tones worried, reminiscent of their early days in the Realm.
Finally Uni, who'd remained silent the entire argument, said, "I agree with Hank. I think Dara killed them. She feels wrong. Airk feels it, too."
"And I swear she was able to turn into Hank then pushed me," Bobby whispered, not glancing over to Dara so he wouldn't draw her attention. Diana faced the guide's direction and would inform them if she came close.
"A shapeshifter," Hank agreed. "So, we suspect, and with some good circumstantial evidence, that Dara is trying to hurt us or kill us."
"She wants our magic," Sheila confirmed softly. "It's the only answer. The more she sees, the more interested she is. She . . . guys, what if she killed the other group, too?" Holding up a hand, Sheila added, "Eric and Uni found a body by the stones and Bobby found one in the sands. What if those are the members of her former party?"
Stiffening once more, Bobby said, "she said there were five others. The healer wandered off, she said. And that was two more. Which means where are the other two? Bodies, I mean. She did say they all died."
"Could have been anywhere or for any reason," Hank sighed. "I'm more interested in what happened to that healer. Did he really wander off? And why would he leave the group?"
"And at what time did he leave?" Sheila asked.
Diana hissed softly, "guys, she's coming back. Has the map in her hands."
The group didn't look, switching to discussing how to cross a river too wide to see the other side and too deep to possibly swim, though none of them really made an effort to figure the obstacle out in depth.
Dara sank gracefully on the ground in the very spot she'd left and glared around at the group. She spread the intricately embroidered map open across her lap and glared again. "Spell maker map. Spell maker dead. Dara map."
Hank looked directly at the woman rather than the map, though he noted the others studied it carefully while he spoke, "well, if the spell maker wasn't using it, then of course it naturally comes to you." His tone soothed as he added, "and you've done good guiding us along the path. But it's the obstacles we need to know about, Dara. If we know in advance, we can plan how to get around them without injury." Hank paused then asked, gentler, "do you understand? I know you're not stupid. We have no choice. We have to go to the Singing Forest to save several lives back at our camp.
"Eric heal. Eric unicorn," Dara pointed out, sounding like she actually pouted.
"Eric's not a real unicorn, Dara. We told you. A wizard called Kalek turned him into one. We're trying to fix it. He can't do unicorn things," Hank tried to explain without giving too much away. So far, Hank had a feeling Eric could very much do unicorn things.
Dara studied the blond man before her then asked, "Eric elf?"
"Is that important?" Uni jumped in, her voice curious and soft.
The guide didn't startle. She turned her attention on the red-haired elf between Hank and Bobby. "Elf spell," Dara pointed out.
"But he is stuck as a unicorn," Uni pointed out. "No elf magic."
Meeting Uni's maroon eyes with her own baby-blue, Dara suggested, "Uni elf spell."
Shaking her head, Uni sighed, "I don't have Elf magic, either. I'm cursed."
Suddenly, understanding seemed to dawn in Dara's eyes and she smiled, a slow smile that shifted from eerie to friendly. "Uni no spell. Eric no spell. Bobby spell club. Diana spell stick. Hank spell bow. Sheila spell," Dara snorted as if she didn't think much of Sheila's magic, "boots. Presto," Dara turned eyes to the sleeping redhead beside the unicorn. "Presto spell hat. Big spell."
Instantly alert at the catalogue of their magic items, even if it was incomplete and incorrect, Hank stiffened as Dara described Presto's hat. The interest was very evident in the guide's eyes and voice. She wanted Presto's hat. "Yes," Hank didn't deny what the guide already seemed to know, "we all have magic and Presto's is the best, the strongest. But the hat doesn't work well without a Wizard using it. He's had that hat for over ten years."
As Dara shifted into a frown and looked directly at Hank, he continued, "Presto trained with it since he was a kid. A child. A lot younger than Bobby or Terri. The rest of us can't make it work right. It always does something bad if we try."
Thinking through that information, her eyes showing her concentration, Dara finally asked, "not use spell others?" She lifted a hand as she spoke and negligently waved a finger from Pesto to Hank to Sheila.
Hank sighed and shook his head, glimpsing Diana studying the part of the map Dara had been covering with that very hand until then. "Not exactly, Dara. We each have magic, but we had to train with them. Like my bow. I've taught Terri how to use it, but I never learned how to use Presto's hat." Normally truthful Hank never batted an eye at his own lie: no one taught Terri to use the bow. She'd never even really handled it before using it on the mud flats.
"Net?" Dara challenged. "Heal net?"
"That's Airk's," Uni jumped in smoothly with her own lie, surprising the others though no one showed their reaction to Dara. The net had only been used on Eric and Uni together in front of Dara. "So we can use it on him."
Dara looked from one to the other then grinned again, sounding smug. "Prove not lie."
"Sure," Bobby agreed easily enough. He picked up his club and offered it directly to Dara. "Go ahead. Try it."
The others held their breaths, their worry and doubt hidden behind stoic masks. Hank knew anyone could use most of the other weapons, so he didn't know why Bobby would allow Dara to find that out.
Looking triumphant and eager, Dara took the club and stood up. She backed up, wisely, from the group and held the weapon in both hands. Suddenly, she frowned and glared at Bobby. "Not light."
With a nod, Bobby agreed, "told you. It only works for the owner. That'd be me. I've had that thing since I was really little. Nine. Practically a baby."
Hank caught on. Dara hadn't seen Bobby use the club to bust out of the trap, and he'd only ever used it as a light until then. She had no idea the club was more than a fancy torch. Bobby had already known that the user had to be aware of the magic to use it, though that did make Hank wonder how they'd all figured out their own weapons so long ago: especially Sheila. The others had been almost obvious, but who would've thought that lifting the hood of the cloak would turn the user invisible?
Bobby offered his hand. "Give it here, Dara." He smiled, his tone friendly and light, though his eyes remained sharp on the guide holding his Weapon of Power.
With a disgusted snort, Dara handed back the club. She threw herself down into her seat and seemed to be in a grumpy mood. "Bobby dead. Who club?"
Looking shocked at the idea that Dara might consider if killing the owner would transfer the magic, Sheila said, "Dara! That's cruel!"
The guide looked at the Thief and shrugged. "Not cruel. Logic."
Chuckling, Bobby said, "then it'll go back to the place it came from. The Dragon's Graveyard." He slapped the club in one palm but did not use any of it's magic so it stayed a normal looking wooden weapon.
Sudden interest swayed Dara into leaning towards Bobby. "Grave many spell?"
Catching on, Diana shrugged and nodded, looking nonchalant. "Well, all our things came from there. And our camp has a couple more from there. We had to go on a quest to get them." She didn't explain that she spoke of several different times and quests and people. "Dara," Diana said, looking thoughtful, "perhaps once we're done, we can bring you there to get your own magic item?"
"In addition to your payment for being our guide," Sheila added, drawing Dara's interest. "As friends."
"Dara . . . friend?" the guide asked, looking surprised.
"Sure," Sheila replied, though her true friends could see the lie in the Thief's teal eyes. "Why wouldn't we be?" That was the true moment the others could tell how their Thief friend - - how all of them had changed in the last few years. Sheila had always hated lying before being forced to rely on deception.
Suddenly Dara rolled up her map and jumped to her feet. "Dara sleep." She hurried to her own pallet and sank down, rolling into her blanket and putting her back to the fire - - and the group.
Knowing that Dara in all probability pretended to be asleep, the Champions dropped any discussion of their guide, not wanting her to overhear. Instead, they looked at one another in a slowly growing silence.
Finally, Hank softly broke the stillness. "Bobby, you said you found a book?"
"Oh, yeah," Bobby got up and hurried to the saddlebag he'd slipped the book into after their morning bath. He pulled it out and came back, sinking between Hank and Sheila. "Here." The Barbarian held out the cream-colored leather-bound book, the pearls catching the firelight.
"Oh, it's beautiful!" Sheila said, softly.
Diana frowned and laid a hand on the cover then snatched her hand back and claimed, "it's horrible. Bobby, that's . . . not a normal book."
Curious, Bobby looked at Diana. "What is it?" Normally it was his sister who would claim things were horrible, not adventurous Diana.
"Flesh," Diana shuddered, appearing less the self-assured woman and more a worried lost wanderer. It was as if years of experience had been stripped away, leaving behind a Diana none of them recognized.
Quickly, Hank glanced toward Dara who still lay on her pallet. He then looked back at their Acrobat and placed a strong, calloused hand over her strong athlete's hand. "What's wrong with it, Diana? You've encountered something like this before?"
Drawing a deep breath to calm herself, Diana nodded and stared at the book as if it would bite her. "Yes. With Dekkion. But I was blind so could only feel it. It was a strange kind of leather. Dekkion sounded so cold when he explained it was not made of cow." She lifted dark brown eyes, the color of deep chocolate, and whispered, "it was human skin."
"Oh! Ugh!" Sheila recoiled in horror. "Oh, Diana, how can you tell?"
"Because it's the same book Dekkion described to me. It was four years ago. We were in a Necromancer's tower. And several of the books were studded with pearls on this kind of . . . leather," Diana sighed. "Dekkion said they were traveling spell books. The book itself held notes and would have room for any new spells the Necromancer came across, but the pearls held his real magic."
Shuddering again, Sheila leaned into Bobby since he blocked her from Hank. Her brother, surprisingly, wrapped a strong arm around her and made a disgusted face.
"So, what'd ya need with a Necromancer, Diana?" Bobby asked. "Don't they play with dead bodies?"
"Bobby!" hissed Sheila, disgusted.
"Actually, this one wasn't the really bad kind. Apparently, his name was Galder and he tried to use his magic to stop mortal injuries. He was always looking for new cures, according to what we'd heard." Diana shrugged. "We were there to copy his star charts, but he wasn't home so we had to sneak in instead of asking."
Looking down at the book in Bobby's hands, Hank asked, softly, "do you think this book belonged to Galder?"
With a frown, Diana reached out a hand to touch the leather and pearls. She drew back and nodded. "Very possibly. Has the same feel. Dekkion said it was rare to store the spells in gems that could be pried out, but that this Necromancer had weird habits."
Bobby opened the book and Sheila protested, "eww! Don't touch it, Bobby."
Uni shuffled closer and looked intrigued, touching the revealed first page. "I can't read it," she said softly. "I," Uni flushed, "I can't read. Can you, Bobby?"
Glancing over the strange markings, Bobby shook his head. "Not this. I don't understand it. It looks like random scratching. Maybe Presto can."
Pulling her cloak around her, Sheila shook her head. "I don't think any of us should read it." She glanced over to Dara then back to the group. "So, if this was the book of the spell maker that hired Dara, why would a Necromancer go to the Singing Forest?"
Hank met Sheila's eyes. "Dekkion said he was trying to find more cures for things. Heart's Unity cures curses."
"I want to know what happened to that group's healer," Diana murmured, frowning. "Put the book away, Bobby. Don't let anyone near it."
Bobby shot a glance over at Dara then nodded. "Okay. Putting it away." He slid the book into his tunic, ignoring Sheila's protest of disgust.
xxx
December 18, 1992:
The day dawned cold and crisp, a hint of snow in the air. Presto, still exhausted from such magical energy control, sat listlessly by the fire, stirring the dried roots, berries, and herbs together with what remained of dried rabbit and pigeon. He'd had to conjure a bit of water for the pot and their canteens, adding to his already tired feelings. Presto wondered if any of them would get enough rest before they got to the forest. He barely looked over at Uni and Eric circling the camp on watch, allowing him to continue sitting. A soft step brought his attention up and he narrowed golden eyes.
"Dara, hey," Presto said, his free hand sliding over the pocket he'd shoved his hat into. "We've got, what, two months before the river, right?"
Before the guide could answer, Bobby called out softly, "Terr?"
Presto and Dara turned to look at the younger couple. Terri had apparently already woken up as she sat upright, leaning against Bobby. Her eyes glowed golden and a matching golden light came from under her shirt. Worried, Presto started to quickly brew some of the razor leaf tea for the girl, hoping this vision didn't end in a seizure. Dara sniffed and turned away from Terri, surprisingly showing little interest since crossing the Shifting Sands.
The Wizard suspected he knew why. He got up and moved over to kneel beside Terri and Bobby, letting her finish her dreaming. As her eyes faded back to denim blue, Presto offered her the tea. "Here, Terri. Drink this. Give it a moment."
Everyone watched anxiously for any signs of a stress seizure, but Terri seemed relaxed if a little puzzled. She sipped her bitter tea, eyes lifting to see everyone staring at her. Pulling the bowl from her lips, Terri said, "what?"
"Terri sick," Dara explained.
"No," Terri shook her head, "I feel fine. It was . . . the one about Eric and the unicorn." That seemed to content Dara who looked away once more, but Bobby and the others had noted the way Terri had paused before filling in what the dream contained.
Bobby nuzzled close to her ear, ignoring the surprised looks at his apparent display of affection. He whispered, "what was it really, Terr?"
She lifted denim blue eyes to meet summer blue and murmured into her bowl, "Eric, as a unicorn, and another unicorn. This one white with a red mane and tail. They were nuzzling and standing together, ignoring everything, among trees."
Slowly, Bobby's eyes found their erstwhile elf. "Uni? Uni gets cured . . . but Eric doesn't?"
Touching her boyfriend's arm, Terri shook her head, meeting his sudden gaze. "Don't tell, okay? I don't want anyone else to know. Especially Eric and Uni."
Watching Terri for a long moment, Bobby finally nodded. "Okay, Terr. I won't tell." He didn't argue that the others might have a right to know their trip failed for Eric. Terri seemed certain that they shouldn't be told, and Bobby trusted her. "Feeling okay?"
"Yeah," Terri sighed. "It was beautiful, even if it's sad, Bobby. They looked so happy together."
"I . . . I guess," Bobby shook his head. "Hey, Terri. Can we talk? About us, I mean?"
Lowering the finally empty bowl, Terri turned her full attention on Bobby. She'd known this was coming. "Okay, Bobby. Let's talk. About us."
Swallowing, Bobby ran a hand through his messy blond hair. "I know we never talked about after school, except for the Realm. And we never talked about being a couple or having a family or anything." Bobby flushed and powered on, "but I do love you, Terr. I have for a long time. And . . ." he swallowed again then blurted, "I want to marry you and not just because of the baby."
Terri bit her lip and flushed in return. Softly, she admitted, "I love you, too, Bobby. And . . . I want that. But I want us to be sure it's the right thing."
"Why wouldn't it be?" Bobby asked, a hint of desperation in his voice. "I don't wanna lose you, Terri. I wanna be with you forever." He hesitated then finally admitted, "even more than I wanna be with Sheila. I . . . I love you more."
Eyes widening, Terri began to shake. But she wasn't having a convulsion. She dropped her bowl and threw her trembling arms around Bobby's neck, hugging him close. "You do? Oh, Bobby, are you sure?"
Encircling her tightly in his strong arms, Bobby nodded then buried his face in her neck. "Yeah, Terr. I'm sure. I'd go anywhere you want if you let me come with you." He lifted his head and met her eyes. "Please, Theresa Parker. Will you marry me?"
Face breaking into a wide smile, Terri nodded. She cupped Bobby's face and whispered, "yes, Robert O'Neil. I'll marry you." She kissed him.
As the pair spoke privately, Presto and the others had moved further away, giving them the privacy they hadn't realized they wanted. Presto sighed and turned to look back over the sands they'd left behind, his eyes unseeing as his mind drifted over his own lover. He wondered how Ayesha did that morning - - every morning. How Rahmoud fared. How the entire caravan went on. They couldn't stay at the Wall of Souls for almost two years, could they? The caravan had to move, had to trade to thrive. But would that mean leaving Rahmoud behind? Who would watch over the King of Kadeesh if his daughter took over the caravan? How was Ayesha managing?
Diana's voice behind him pulled Presto back from his dark, whirling thoughts. "Looking for a sight you know you won't see for awhile, huh?"
"Yeah," Presto sighed in soft agreement. "Wondering how she's holding up."
Recalling Presto's goodbye to the desert princess, Diana smiled softly and said, "she's strong, Presto. And she'll be glad of your return when we do get back."
"Guys?" Hank's voice interrupted the pair, drawing them around to face the rest of the group. Dara had wandered off, it seemed, and Bobby and Terri continued to speak quietly to one another.
Presto looked over his friends and straightened his glasses, pushing them up his nose. "Yeah, Hank?"
"Well, we didn't get the chance to tell you guys," Hank sighed and looked over the group then back at Diana. "Uni says Silvermane would have been tending Dekkion. If anyone could have healed him, Silvermane could."
Instant confusion crossed Diana's eyes and she breathed out, "what do you mean?"
Giving Uni a nod, Hank watched Diana as Uni unwrapped the bandages around Eric's head, revealing the absence of the vampire talon wounds. "Unicorns can heal damage from the undead. Uni healed Eric just before we crossed the sands."
Glancing quickly around, Diana hissed, "does Dara know?"
Uni began wrapping the unicorn's head once more, still hiding that he'd been healed.
"She was the one who told me they could," Hank murmured. "So I had Uni try it while you guys were gathering herbs for Terri. None of us remembered sooner that she could do it."
Diana reached over and laid a hand on Eric's neck, meeting the former Cavalier's eyes. Slowly, a smile crossed her face, "so, that's one less strain. Dekkion should be healed."
Hank touched Diana's shoulder, drawing her attention. "That's what we hope."
Understanding dawned and Diana slowly nodded, a shadow of worry falling over her eyes once more. "Ah . . . I see. If they could, they'd have healed him. We won't know until we're done and return." She threw her shoulders back in her typical fashion, as if ready to take on the world. The Acrobat nodded firmly. "So, we get the cure for Rahmoud and Eric and Uni. Now, why don't we want Dara to know about Eric?"
"Because we don't want her to know that Uni can make the alicorn work," Hank whispered. "She thinks Uni stole it from a different unicorn, I think. And Eric couldn't heal himself. Especially as we told her he can't do unicorn magic." He looked around and said, "here she comes."
Diana glanced over and called, "there you are, Dara! I was getting worried but the others said you were fine." She broke away from the group and strode over to her watch partner.
Sheila sighed and hugged herself. "It's so exhausting trying to keep up a cheerful friendly face for her. But it's so dangerous to send her home."
Laying a hand on Sheila's shoulder, Hank squeezed gently and nodded. "But maybe not as dangerous for her as for us. We'll make due with what we have."
Glancing over his friends, Presto said, "we have the worst luck with guides, huh?"
Uni snorted, her hand, holding the alicorn, close to her thigh. "Arik says that is a . . . serious understatement. He - - Airk!"
"What?" Sheila looked from Uni to Eric and back.
The red-haired elf snorted, trying to hide her smile and failing. "He says he'd rather have Tiamat as a guide. He knows where we stand with her."
xxx
December 21, 1992:
Stopping in the shadow of a large overhanging evergreen tree, Sheila sighed and looked around then back at the rest of the group in the waning light of the end of day. Dara, right behind her, seemed to be just as eager for a rest break, so the red-haired Thief turned and waved a halt to her friends. Tired enough not to be thinking clearly, Sheila began to use the signs she and Varla had created while doing their spy missions.
"Sheila what?" Dara asked in a testy tone, her confused look turning to annoyance.
Surprise slowly enveloped Sheila and she lowered her hands as she noted the confused looks on all of the faces around her. A light flush crept up Sheila's neck and over her freckled face. "Uh, I'm sorry. I guess I forgot to speak out loud?" She cleared her throat and said, "we should make camp?"
Diana glanced over the group then back and Sheila, a slow smile hesitantly spreading over her face. "Sure, Sheila. I think we're all a bit tired. Let's stop for the night."
As the others began to make their small camp in the copse of evergreen trees, the Acrobat walked over to her oldest friend. She leaned in and whispered, "Sheila, were you attempting ASL?" She felt amused but puzzled. Sheila hadn't ever displayed any sort of knowledge, no matter how inaccurate, of signing.
Still flushing, Sheila shook her head "ASL? No, I don't know real sign language. It was something me and Varla worked on while I was deaf. It helped so I could talk with them and then later on our missions." Suddenly recalling something from long ago, Sheila turned to Diana and asked, "isn't your brother deaf?"
Nodding, Diana grinned. "Yeah, and we all learned ASL in the family so we could talk with him. If you want, I can teach you some? You had some of the signs done right, but I'm not sure if you meant what they really mean."
Smiling in return at Diana, relaxing at last, the red-haired woman shook her head. "I was trying to say we should set up camp under the trees on the left, away from the road."
Chuckling softly, Diana said, "well, for ASL you got exactly zero of those signs right." She slipped an arm around the other woman, still smiling, relaxed and in a good mood. "But that's fine. Because I'm sure Varla and her parents would have understood you exactly. After all, ASL - - American Sign Language, is only one version of signs. There are as many as there are languages, pretty much."
"There are?" Sheila grinned and chuckled back, feeling the lessening of tension. She wasn't sure how this small interaction had helped so much to relieve stress between the two women, but Sheila wasn't about to throw it away. She'd very much missed the closeness she'd had with the other female in their original group. Uni hadn't counted as a unicorn and Terri had only been with them for a few days back then.
With a nod, Dana looked around and smiled wider. "Yeah, each group that speaks their own language or each culture came up with their own. Sometimes the signs cross over, but most of the time they don't." Watching Presto helping Hank with the cooking fire, Diana signed again, but not in a bitter way. "This is lovely. More and more trees, running water, fresh game . . . a far cry from a few days ago at the edge of those sands, huh" The pretty Acrobat turned to her friend.
Nodding, Sheila looked around, spotting Bobby and Terri pooling together rations. "Very lovely. It makes me wonder what's going to attack." Flushing, Sheila sighed. "I've gotten so jumpy."
"All of us have, Sheila," Diana agreed. "It's part of living on the road. Dekkion and I were always staying in cottages and towers, rarely out in the wild. You stayed with Marinda and Jaref at their home. It must have been sheer torture at times for the ones wandering, like Hank or Eric and Uni." Dark brown eyes searched then found the former unicorn and her traveling partner.
Teal eyes also fell on the cursed pair and Sheila sighed again. "Especially Eric and Uni. Hank worked for lodgings, but that pair rarely met with others. Out of all of us, the one to wind up in the roughest conditions through any weather and terrain had to be Eric." She paused then drew her eyes away from the sight of the Elf and unicorn. Studying Diana for a long moment, Sheila lowered her voice to a whisper as she finally added, "I think they fell in love, Diana."
Still watching the former Cavalier and their once pet unicorn, Diana nodded slowly, agreeing with the troubling thought. "I think you're right. For Uni, that's probably the equivalent of a first love - - puppy love. Eric might have been out of loneliness, since he's such a social guy. Or was," Diana amended.
Blinking in surprise, Sheila looked sharply at Diana. "Does . . . do you think they'll get over it? I mean," she drew a soft breath, "if given other options?"
"It's possible," Diana answered, shrugging. She let out a slow sigh. "But it's also possible that love will get deeper the more isolated they feel from their own kind. Now Eric's a unicorn, not a human. And Uni is feeling isolated from other unicorns. She's naturally being drawn closer to Eric." Troubled, Diana's eyes showed her worry. "But if we can't lift their curses - - or even if we can - - that is an impossible couple. Inter-raccial couples can easily work. Interspecies?" The Acrobat shook her head with a soft sigh.
"What if one of them refuses to have their curse lifted?"
Both women jumped at the soft tenor voice behind them, causing both to whirl around. Diana's hand instinctively went to her javelin while Sheila, just as instinctively, reached for the blade that was no longer at her waist since she'd given it to Terri. Presto pushed his glasses up his nose with his left index finger and gave a weak smile. "Sorry," he said voice soft and soothing. "We finished with the fire and I thought I'd help you with hunting?"
"Right, hunting," Diana let out an easy laugh, relaxing her guarded stance and offering a smile to the Magician. "So, what game do you think is best, Presto? You're the one that's been over more landscape than any of us."
Instantly puzzled by Diana's question, Sheila refused to let her confusion show. If anyone in their group could be said to have been over the most landscape, it would have been Hank, not Presto. Presto had been limited to the caravan trade routes.
With a slight nod Presto turned his head to check the terrain. "Winter setting in conifer forest . . . small game would be rabbits. Foxes if you want larger." He turned his smile to the girls, his golden eyes friendly, his stance a bit stiff.
"Foxes it is." Diana agreed readily enough. "Hey, Sheel . . ." Diana used a nickname for her old friend that Sheila hadn't heard since she was ten, "tell the others we're hunting wabbit."
Letting out a soft, if force chuckle, Sheila agreed. "Okay, Di."
Presto grinned wide as Sheila turned back towards the camp, leaving the pair alone on the roadside.
As Sheila disappeared into the trees, Diana asked in a congenial tone, "hey, how you holding up, Andrew?"
Presto blinked in surprise, confusion slamming over his features. "Andrew?"
With an easy laugh, Diana waved a hand, "sorry. Forgot you might not be used to your real name. I just . . . well, it's you and me. I figured you might get tired of your travelling name once in a while."
The smile came back to Presto's face and he nodded. "Well, it does get old, I guess. But it's okay. You don't have to call me Andrew unless you want to."
Turning her look fully on the person beside her, Diana smiled wider and said, "oh, I have no problem calling you whatever you want to be called, Andrew. Let's hunt up some rabbits."
Presto nodded and turned towards the trees on the opposite side of the road from the busy camp. Diana never let her smile slip as she followed the man on their hunt.
Sheila, once the trees hid her from view of the road, slipped her hood up, disappearing quicker than thought. She turned back around and, relying on the Elven Boots of silence she wore, hurried right back up to the pair. There had been minor, subtle clues that the man they'd just spoken to wasn't Presto. The Thief wasn't sure what Diana had noticed so quickly, but Presto's stiff posture around the two women had alerted Sheila to the shapeshifter's mistake: he only got that way around people he didn't trust. It had been confirmed when Diana had used that old name Sheila had scolded her for when they'd met the first time on the playground. It had been a nickname only Bobby had been permitted to use. When Sheila had returned with a shortened version of Diana none of them but Eric had ever used, and Presto never batted an eye, Sheila knew for certain they had an imposter.
Due to the imminent danger Diana had put herself in, separating with the imposter for a lone hunt, Sheila hadn't bothered to check if Dara had been at camp. She planned to find out the shifter's identity after capturing him and protecting Diana.
Slipping carefully behind the pair, noting how closely the imposter dogged the Acrobat's heels, Sheila was very careful to stay to the thick pine needle fodder under the trees. They wouldn't make any noticeable sounds when shifting under her feet. Her boots might keep her steps silent and prevent her leaving tracks, but she could still make noise if other things moved underfoot. She kept her steps light and cautious but her eyes directly on the fake Presto. Diana would be fine, it was the imposter that had to be controlled.
"So, Andrew," Sheila heard Diana say to her hunting companion, "when we find the cures are you taking a break to be with Varla?"
The imposter compiled his mistakes quickly as he let Diana call him by a name he never had then ask about his sister as if she were his lover. The man nodded and grinned, sounding relaxed, his attention on his companion. "I miss her. I miss her more the longer we're on this quest."
With a sigh of longing, Diana agreed, "I miss Dekkion."
As if picking up on a formerly interrupted conversation Presto asked softly, "Diana . . . you and Dekkion." He pushed his glasses up again with his left index finger, "are you going to have a baby, Diana?"
That stopped the acrobat very still. She turned slowly to the imposter and softly said, "baby? Why would you think that?"
Presto shifted, stiffening a bit once more, and shook his head. "Because all the other women are."
Blinking in surprise and pushing down a flash of regret, Sheila wondered when someone had gotten the idea she was pregnant. She knew that unless Diana and Dekkion had been sexually active before his injuries there was no way, Diana'd be pregnant, either. He was too badly hurt that last night in camp.
Diana lowered her voice as if afraid to be overheard and stepped closer to Presto. "Don't tell the others. There's so much worry about Terri right now. And . . .and Sheila wouldn't take it well. She," Diana sighed, sounding very troubled, "Sheila lost hers last week. She doesn't know how to tell Hank."
Still hidden by her cloak, Sheila's mouth dropped open in confusion and shock. Diana had made that up. Sheila'd never been pregnant, though she had thought she might. And if she lost Hank's baby, she certainly would have told him as soon as it happened. With a shudder Sheila thought, 'if I lost a baby, I'd tell the father right away. He has the right to know.'
Presto's face took on a surprised look and he shook his head. "I won't say a word, Diana." He paused then asked, "and Uni? Is she going to have Eric's baby?"
Apparently just as shocked by the question as Sheila, Diana let out a bark of surprised laughter. "Uni and Eric have a baby?"
Sounding instantly defensive, Presto rushed to say, "well, before the curse they could have mated."
Diana stopped laughing, stopped smiling, and looked the imposter straight in the eye. She very carefully said, "before the curse that switched their races, Eric wasn't a unicorn. Uni was."
Shock slammed over Presto's features then he turned and bolted into the heavier trees. Sheila moved to run after him but ran into Diana's suddenly flung out arm. Pulling down her hood, breaking the cloak's invisibility spell, Sheila looked at Diana. She didn't question how the other woman had known exactly where she'd be, instead she said, "shouldn't we go after him, Diana?"
A slow smile spread over Diana's face, twisting it into a plotting grimace. "Not yet. I'm trying to see just how much false info we can feed our little spy. Then she'll trip up and reveal herself at the exactly wrong time, in front of the entire group."
Looking off the way the imposter had run, Sheila let out a frustrated sigh. "It was Dara, wasn't it?"
"Had to be," Diana agreed. "She's the only one to have been close enough to hear and observe all of us. And," Diana looked at Sheila, "the only one to not know how periods work. Otherwise she'd have realized that you, me, and Uni have them regularly and that, most of the time, a regular menstruation means no baby." Diana turned back towards the camp. "Let's get back with the others. I want to make sure to warn them that our shifter is trying to lure people out, one by one. And, Sheila." Diana turned her chocolate colored eyes to meet Sheila's worried teal ones. "Try your hardest to hide that magic."
Noting that Diana didn't mention out loud which magic, Sheila nonetheless knew instantly she referred to the cloak. "Right," the Thief agreed readily. At the moment, the Cloak of Invisibility was their greatest asset.
