Some shuffling about started taking place an hour or two later. As the company from the Order packed up and prepared to leave, Gorion's Company took up some vacancies at the inn. Lidia handled the clerics' baggage herself. Anomen's pack horse, after some reluctance, came with her and was hitched to a post outside.

When all was said and done, the members of the Order were ready to leave at first light the next morning. Lidia was up with them to see them off.

After exchanging a few words with Sir Grady, the older knight guided her towards where Shamus lay on a crude stretcher, carried by four of the men-at-arms. "Come, he wishes to speak to you."

Shamus looked a lot less pale and a lot more alert. Still, speaking for him seemed like a mighty effort. "Lidia, I…I misjudged you. Let me make it right."

She rested a hand on his stretcher. "There's no need."

"I have something you will need here. Please."

The look of earnestness on Shamus's face forestalled any thoughts of refusing him. "All right. What did you have in mind?"

As though she'd awaited a prearranged signal, Elotte came forward with a long package wrapped in leather. The squire handed it to Lidia, who started turning it over in her hands. It was about a foot and a half long, bound closed with a cord, and the contents felt heavy.

"The Order entrusted this to me," Shamus said, "and you are carrying on our work here. Use it well."

"Thank you," Lidia said. She then turned to Sir Grady. "I will do everything I can to prove that your trust in me was well placed."

"You had as much a part in preventing a second tragedy - and a third," Sir Grady replied. "And now, the road from battle and war is ours. I must relay these villainous events to the Order, to mourn the losses and exalt the successes. This is the hardest part of the journey, I fear. May the blessing of Tyr the Maimed go with you."

"And that of Ilmater with you."

The company from the Order slowly made their way east, soon disappearing into the forest east of Imnesvale as the sun rose over the treetops.

After they had left, Lidia took the chance to get some extra training in, taking her staff with her. Some way into the stand of trees near the inn, she found a burnt, branchless husk of a trunk still standing. She stopped there and set to work.

Most days, she spent at least an hour on drills, adding in more time as the circumstances allowed, practicing with whatever weapon she had on hand. Today, however, she took it a bit easier. Her muscles still ached, partly from yesterday's battle and partly from the long journey from Athkatla.

After some exercises, she unwrapped the package she'd received from Shamus, loosening the leather cord.

Inside lay an oddly shaped axe that faintly gleamed with a rich blue light around the head's edges. The solid steel handle was wrapped with the skin of a blue dragon, the axehead was forged with steel and edged in silver, and a star sapphire was laid into its pommel. Its head was wide, seemingly heavy and unwieldy. She picked up the weapon and held it out with one hand, balancing it in her palm. To her surprise, the axe was light, and even over her hand's small fulcrum it was perfectly balanced.

It was, in short, the finest weapon Lidia had ever laid a hand upon. No wonder Shamus had only been borrowing it, probably under Sir Grady's close supervision.

She examined it closer. The weapon bore six ancient runes on its head, perhaps having some power laid into it as it was forged.

Suddenly, she heard a faint whisper. Startled, she looked up and about her. There was no sign of anyone nearby. She glanced at the weapon somewhat suspiciously, then leaned in again.

There was no doubt; the whispering was coming from the axe. Lidia turned her mind towards heeding the whispers, forgetting everything else for a moment. Even after several minutes of this, she could only make out a few words:

I am Azuredge.

"Azuredge," Lidia repeated to herself.

She heard the axe whisper again, this time a little more clearly:

For now, you'll suffice.

Well, Lidia thought, at least you're quieter than Larry.

As she was practicing with her staff on the tree trunk, Yoshimo stopped by.

"Good to see you up," he called.

Lidia said nothing, but gave the tree trunk several strong, two-handed whacks. The dead wood didn't show a dent or scratch. Despite the coolness of the day, she had worked up a decent sweat. It'd take a lot more to work out the stress of the last tenday, but she'd also gotten a decent start there.

She paused, turned to him. "Thanks. I'm happy to be up," she replied.

Yoshimo approached, then gave a low whistle when he saw Azuredge laying in its open leather wrapping. "Well, this is a pretty toy, and no mistake." He leaned over to pick it up.

It refused to budge with his hand, remaining close to the ground as though it had been glued there. Not even the leather it lay upon budged.

"I think she has a mind of her own," Lidia said, with a slight smile.

"How do you know it's a she?" Yoshimo said.

"I don't know, it feels like a she," she replied, shrugging her shoulders. "So it's stuck? That's odd."

She bent over to pick it up, and the axe immediately flew upwards towards her hand.

She said, suddenly excited, "I wonder how far this goes? I have to try this out."

For the next half hour or so, Lidia practiced throwing the axe towards the tree trunk, taking a step back every time it returned to her hand. Eventually, she stood thirty feet away - the farthest distance she could throw the axe while still hitting her target - and the axe returned to her hand every time.

While she was experimenting, Yoshimo got his bow. They took turns trying to hit the trunk, more to pass the time than anything else, making conversation as they did.

"What do you think of everything, so far?" Lidia asked.

"Mostly I'm thankful we all seem to have made it out with our skins." Yoshimo aimed his bow again and fired. "Still, I don't suppose there's any chance we'd be paid in anything other than meals and gratitude?"

She shook her head, remembering well their original purpose for traveling east. She said, "We'll make it through the next few tendays, but I'll try to figure something out."

"As you say, fearless leader." He notched another arrow to his bow, then fired. The tip buried itself in the dead wood. "But perhaps, in the meantime, you'd be willing to indulge my curiosity about Bhaal."

"What about that interests you?" she asked.

He shrugged. "In my profession, Bhaal was once the foremost power. I cannot help but be interested."

"Of course. It's the least I can do to make it up to you. I believe I once said something about 'dealing straight'..."

"Oh, that. Think nothing of it," he said. "If anything, the past tenday has demonstrated your caution."

She felt a bit abashed. "The thought of who to tell and how has only recently crossed my mind, I'll admit. I've only known my own heritage for less than a year."

"All understandable." He flashed a smile. "But something has intrigued me. You have special powers from Ilmater...but does your heritage not grant you power, as well?"

She thought about the dark well inside her, and how she had discovered the burning eyes inside it. "Some things. Nothing remotely god-like, though."

Another memory resurfaced: she was on Irenicus's table again, waiting for him to use the readied spell in one hand and the little bone knife in the other. The wizard's pale, masklike face hovering over her, and his cold, deep voice ringing in her ears: "Let us continue with the experiments, and see what lies hidden in you."

Mercifully, Yoshimo sensed her discomfort and changed the subject.