Olly woke up tangled in the bedding of their room at the Boar's Smile Inn. The sun was hot coming in through the solitary window against the wood paneled wall, and Olly could feel the familiar sweat from sleeping through the day plastered on her body. She knew she needed to get up and bathe, if only to get the blood and dirt off her body from battling in Xanathar's lair all night.

The room though was silent, Ed's footsteps that were growing to be more familiar were not heard, or the gentle snore that was absent, noting he hadn't fallen asleep himself. Olly's eyes opened finally as she stretched and looked around the empty room, the dust in the air wafting through the sunlight coming through the window. Grogily she stood up and peeled off her armor and clothes to walk into the bathroom. Her footsteps patted against the wood as she pushed open the lavatory door.

"HEY!" a panicked cry sounded out as Olly yelled out at the same time, not ready to see the Cleric sitting in the tub himself. She nearly hit the wall as she whipped around, Ed's splashing the water as he reached for any piece of cloth to cover himself.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Olly yelled out as she ran out of the room, her face immediately growing hot as once again Ed had got a glace at her nude body without meaning to.

"We gotta establish a knocking system" she heard him joke from behind the door as she darted to her own clothes to throw them back on in record time. By the time though she got her peasant shirt over her torso she heard the door open and Ed step out with a sheepish grin on his face.

"Apologies" he said "I was just relaxing in there myself and must have dozed off. I didn't hear you wake up."

"No I'm sorry!" Olly said as her eyes bore down at the ground in front of her, happy to be dressed fully "I didn't hear you or see you and I was just- I didn't mean, or I mean I wasn't trying..."

"No harm done" Ed laughed "But I think the score is now off. I've seen you naked twice and you've only seen me once. Seems unfair to me."

"I didn't ask to see you naked!" Olly gaffed "It was a mistake! One that will not happen again!"

"From our track record, I doubt that" Ed shook his head "But if you were wanting to bathe, the water is still fairly warm. I could bless it real quick to get all the grim out of it if you want."

"Fine" Olly huffed, embarrassed once again in front of the Cleric. She wasn't used to this kind of feeling, but Ed merely shook off any taboo's and went back into the bathroom, his low chanting and a flash of light making the bath water clean as spring water once again.

"There" Ed said with a smile "All better."

"Thank you" Olly said darting past him "I'll only be a moment."

"Would you like me to go and collect Dax and Lady Juliette while you bathe?" Ed offered, if only to give his friend some desperately needed space.

"Please" Olly said stripping once again, eyeballing the warm steaming water with a deep hunger to be clean. She could already see the bruises forming on her skin, something she was used to after a large fight like last night. Atticus used to joke she bruised too easily, and looked like a painting by the time they were done training.

She heard Ed fumble around the room before he called out his exit, leaving her alone in peace once again so that she could properly take care of herself. Closing her eyes, Olly let her body heal itself with the divine light inside of her, her cuts and scrapes healing into tiny scars until there was nothing but a glistening sheen to her skin. The cracked ribs and the few toes she knew she had broken snapped back into place, Olly's deep breathing letting the pain out with each intake.

She had learned this particular skill on her own, finally tired of having to stay inside all the time when she would break something or hurt herself during training. She wanted to be with the other recruits, wanted to jump and fight and learn all that she could. Then eventually, she would do too much, and her mother would scold her, keeping her away from the woods and the wild until she healed. Now she could heal any bone or ligament that gave way, although healing her organs proved to be a bit trickier.

Letting the water give her weightlessness helped as well, the water giving her the perfect opportunity to meditate while her body did it's job.

So many questions...

And now she had to deal with the Yuan-Ti.

She had only encountered their kind in passing, her parents wary of cults in general from how they revered Aasimars. Nole would be the perfect sacrifice for them, a youth touched by celestial light, it was almost too good to be true.

Yuan-Ti were snake worshipping cultists that grew more in appearance of a giant serpent the more mortal sacrifices they made to their gods. From what Olly studied, she knew they relied on stealth first to lure sacrifices, and needed prep time to make their sacrifices perfect to appease their gods properly. It was Ed and Olly's only saving grace at this point. She had no clue how many cultists would be at the hidden temple that was surely somewhere in the City of the Dead, Waterdeep's massive graveyard.

She would fight them all though if she need to, every last one until Nole was safe next to her.

Breathing deep she sank into the tub until her entire body was submerged, her eyes closed as her ears went deaf against the water. She had never been scared of drowning, had never really been scared of anything except Peren. By now he would be looking for her with more desperation than anger..

"Can't think about that right now" Olly shook off the thoughts "Gotta concentrate."

Yuan-Ti were known to live in caverns, but preferred the sunlight if they could get it safely. There motherland was located in the deep jungles of Chult, a island that Olly had not been to but her brother Kirwin visited often. How or why the Yuan-Ti ended up in Waterdeep without the Lord's Alliance knowing about it was beyond Olly's understanding. She tried hard not to get caught up in their politics, just did what needed to be done to keep peace.

Rising up from the water, Olly let out another slow breath, the femur in her right leg grinding back into place from when she fell into the fighting pit. Who knew next time she would get to heal herself again after they went into the City of the Dead. The graveyard for Waterdeep was so large it was it's own sector of the city, and far enough away from the buildings themselves that nobody would hear you cry out if you were in danger.

"Nole's in there" Olly thought "He's in the dark somewhere in there. That had to be what my vision was telling me." Her baby brother, all alone if he was even still alive...

"Stop" she hissed "He's not gone. You would know just like you knew with Atticus."

Atticus had left in the middle of the night, and a tenday later she had woken from a deep sleep covered in a cold sweat...

She remembered that night very vividly, the moon had been only a sliver in the sky and the stars had seemed to fall asleep themselves. Olly had woken to yelling from outside and looked out her balcony to see a cart rolling into the keep from the southern doors, flames from the torches a warning kind of red in the dark.

She had rushed down into the main hall, hiding when she heard more voices crying out and her mother calling orders to the new recruits for the season. She heard a groan of pain as many men carried a body into the kitchen hall, laying it flat on the table as things went crashing from the haste.

"Give me the herbs in the blue pot only!" her mother said in a voice Olly hadn't heard before, a serious and urgent tone that sparked fear in Olly's young heart "Hold down his shoulder and have him bite down on the bit! Dear Chauntea, how long has this been bandaged? Did no one apply a healing salve?!"

A groan of pain cried out from the table and that was when Olly knew it was her father laying on the table, his left leg gone from the mid-thigh down as fresh oozing blood dripped on the stone floor. She had seen her father hurt before, but never like this, his body laying almost lifeless except for the occasional cry of pain.

She remembered her mother's face in the firelight, the fear in her eyes as she quickly tried to heal her husband. People had never seen the great Weylyn Duer hurt so badly, a trajedy that Olly say on the recruit's faces as they left their leader to heal, unable to do anything else for him.

Olly had been watching from the doorway the whole time, her father's face had been so pale as his eyes opened to a sliver, turning to lay them right on Olly. It had broke her inside, that marble statue that had been her father in her mind was now cracked down the middle. Her mother had realized her presence, had sent her off with love in her voice but Olly knew that her father's injury was more serious than Jen was going to let on.

What had happened? Where was Atticus?

She had slowly walked back up to her room alone, the stone steps cold against her feet as the night air began whipping across the Keep's walls. She had walked into her dark room, silent as questions began plaguing her mind. She was only fourteen, still a young girl, in yet the heavy feeling on her shoulder's suddenly made her feel like an adult.

Nole had been six at the time, stumbling into her dark room crying as he held his thumb firmly in his mouth.

"Atti" he had mumbled as she had scooped him up in her arms. His face was stained with tears, his nose dripping as he buried his little head into her shoulder, his grip tight on her nightgown...

Yes, she had felt it too, just as her baby brother had.

Their brother, the the third in their pyramid was gone. It was a hollow, horrible feeling, like a leg or arm was missing, except it felt like a piece of her soul. Olly had cried herself to sleep that night while holding Nole, promising that she would never leave him, that they would always be together.

She remembered the aftermath that followed that night, the numbness she had felt as her brother's and sister's cried, confused and angry at how nobody could answer them. Her mother hadn't left her father's side, the next day nothing but sitting and waiting to see if the great Duer would make it. A visit from the High Mage of Silverymoon granted them some peace, as his hand healed Weylyn's wounds and infection. Losing Atticus though, that had been a tear that not even the strongest magic could fix.

It had nearly killed Olly's father, had broken her mother, and left her siblings so hurt and confused, the family was nearly torn apart. If Nole was lost, Olly feared what would happen to her family...

"I can't let it happen" Olly said to herself "I won't."

The water around her began steaming hot as her memories flooded forward, making the room hotter by leaps. She could feel it, the divine power inside rising, ready for a fight.

"Then let's give them one" Olly said standing from the water as it bubbled around her, evaporating into steam around her. The ground sizzled as she stepped on the wood, her whole body radiating with energy as her eyes blazed hot white. If she tried hard enough, maybe she could burn the w The room started to dry off, Olly backing off her energy as she reserved it for later. She braided her hair back the way her father had showed her so that nothing would get caught in it, then quickly mended her clothes so she could be ready by the time the Cleric got back.

Her armor looked a little worse for wear, but she could get a smithy to look at it another time. Strapping her shoulder and chest armor tight against her, Olly checked her bag of holding for a few key items like rope and torches if they should need them. She felt stocked, ready, but the fear in her heart made it all seem like she was not prepared enough.

A knock sounded out from behind her, the creak of the door making Olly turn quickly to see Ed with the alchemist gnome twiddling behind him.

"Where's Juliet?" Olly eyed Dax.

"Safe" Ed nodded to her "She's secure in the safehouse below Dax's shack."

"And why oh why didn't you use that safehouse before the Beholder got you?" Olly shook her head.

"I did" Dax said a little annoyed "Xanathar's Guild is far and wide. He employed some dungeon divers to infiltrate my safehouse and drag me out when I found out Nole had disappeared."

"And you are sure you know where the Yuan-Ti are? I don't need you sending us on a wild goose chase in the region's largest graveyard" Olly interrogated.

"I assure you my lady" Dax said "You have saved my beloved, I will help save your brother. He was my friend, if you forgot."

"Then lead us to him" Olly said motioning towards the door. Dax raised his chin proudly before turning and walking out the door. Ed followed behind Olly, but quickly pulled her to the side for a second.

"Be easy on him" Ed whispered in her ear "The whole way over he was scared of you, and kept apologizing. He knows he has put us in this situation, no need to further the torture."

Olly sighed and shook her head in agreement "You are right, I'm sorry. I will try to be more reasonable."

"Thank you" Ed gave her a warm smile before they continued on, Olly more reserved now as she followed the Alchemist out the door of the Boar's Smile.

When they had crossed a few busy streets and started down the long road to the City of the Dead, Olly began her questioning, although this time in a more decent tone.

"Dax, tell me about these Yuan-Ti, what do you know of them?" she said.

Dax shifted his eyes around before speaking "From what I learned, the Yuan-Ti that are here traveled from Chult to make a new nest in Waterdeep."

"Makes sense" Ed interjected "Lot's of people to influence."

"Exactly" Dax nodded "There's a main male, his name is Hitotee. He came over with some followers, promising a new era of Yuan-Ti in the Sword Coast. But he lacked a mate to make a new royal brood. Then came this female, I didn't get a close look at her, but from I guess a Yuan-Ti's perspective, she's beautiful. She promised him a brood so powerful that they could take over Waterdeep itself, but she lacked the right form to do so with Hitotee."

"Form?" Ed asked.

"Yuan-Ti can transform from a mortal like you and me into an abomination of a giant snake, a avatar to look like the snake dieties they worship. But they have to sacrifice the right things to gain enough power to transform" Dax informed him.

"That's where Nole fits in" Olly says "They were going to try an old fashioned spell from Xanathar's book. When Xanathar offered them a powerful young Aasimar, it must have been too good an offer to refuse."

"Right" Dax said with guilt coating his voice as they came upon the iron gates that stood near ten feet tall "A celestial would give them enough power to transform Hitotee's female into their abomination form."

"Let's hope that we can stop them before that become true" Ed said looking up at the gates "Why would they make their home in a graveyard of all places?"

"The City of the Dead is unique because half these tombs and mausoleums are portals that lead to demi-planes wizards and cults used for practices. It would be easy to make a hideout in one of the tombs" Dax said "So don't go opening things willy nilly."

They opened the gates that led into the City, statues of guards were located on either side but no one stopped the trio from entering. In the daylight, the City was a green garden where you could picnic and bask in the sun, but at night it was forbidden to trespass. Too many unscrupulous citizens conducted dark things at nighttime, and the last thing the City of Waterdeep needed was a lich raising the dead.

"Ed" Olly said turning to him "I would have your shield in hand."

"As you wish" Ed said strapping the shield to his gauntlet. He could hear the fear in her voice, the dark stone of concentration masking it. He knew she was trying to be the leader, trying to steady herself even though panic was bridging the edge of her mind. He could be her rock if she only leaned on him, he would take her panic and smooth it over with his words if things were different between them. He wanted to hold her against his chest and tell her he would take care of it, but he knew the dangers they also faced. They would need to work together if they stood a chance against these new enemies.

They walked past tombs large and small, gravestones covered in moss and some as clean and fresh as the day they were buried. They had set out in the mid-morning as the afternoon sun now crept across the sky, begging to kiss the horizon so night time could envelop the city once again. Olly thought about how this might be the last time she saw daylight, how the darkness of the tomb might swallow them whole both her and Ed would be lost to it.

"Hey" she heard his voice coolly in her ear "Just breathe. Dax says we are almost there."

Olly nodded as she continued, Dax leading them into a part of the cemetery that was bustling now with trees. Unlike the trimmed ones that lined the wards of Waterdeep, these trees curled and twisted into knots, their branches hanging low and adding more shade to the green grass that made it look almost black. Olly swiped away branches until she saw the gnome stop before a tomb covered in moss and vines. It's gray stone outside looked normal, like most of the tombs they had passed, various reliefs were carved into the side, much of the language a type of Undercommon that would take too long for Olly to decipher.

"It doesn't look like it's been opened in some time" Ed said observing the mausoleum.

"It's an illusion" Dax said waving his hands over the vines for them to shiver and fall away from the door like snakes "This is the door. I don't know what lies beyond it, I only met Hitotee and his followers this far." Olly could hear the fear induced pitch of his words, knew that meeting the Yuan-Ti was probably more than the gnome had asked for.

"Thank you" Olly said putting a hand on the shaking gnome. "We will go ahead without you. Go back to your shack and be with Juliette. She loves you more than you know, I expect you to use that clever brain of yours to keep her safe."

"Thank you my lady" Dax said "Should I tell anyone where you have gone?"

"Yes" Olly nodded "My Aarakocra friend is posted outside of Field Ward. Give her notice where we have gone."

Dax nodded "Good luck to you two, and may the gods be with you."

Ed bowed his head to the Alchemist who quickly left them, trudging through the tree line to escape the tomb as fast as possible.

"Ed" Olly said staring at the black void of the tomb "If you didn't want to go any further, I would understand. This is my problem, and I would have no clue it would go this far. You could leave and I wouldn't hold it against you."

"Olly" Ed turned to her "Do you honestly think I could turn back now and leave you alone? If there's one thing I know, is that I do not go back on my word. I said I would help you with this quest, and I wouldn't leave until Nole was safe by your side. I meant that, with everything in me. Nothing can pull me away from you now."

Olly watched him as he said the words. watching the determination in his eyes. It made her heart swell, a bond had formed between the two that grew stronger the more they stood together against adversity.

"Do you promise?" she asked, just needing to hear it.

Ed held out his hand then, a pinky high in the air as he stared into her eyes seriously.

"Olly, I promise I will not leave your side, from this day to the final" he said "I promise."

Olly's heartbeat sped up at his words, not knowing if there was something underneath them. But she had trusted the Cleric so far, he had protected and advised her. Her hand reached out as her own pinky locked in with his, the security of his touch blowing the fear away in her chest like dust in the wind.

"Promise" she said sealing the deal.

And with that, the Cleric and the Angel walked into the dark void of the tomb to face the evils that lay there waiting.