Chapter Twenty One
Amirah only stopped when she had estimated about 200 yards from the clearing where the Talassans had recently been swept away by the spirits. No one had followed – her men wouldn't have allowed any of the six to leave before she returned. Hopefully, they weren't stupid enough to attempt and stand up to her entire band. Spinning to once more face her family, whose other members had docilely stopped a few steps away from her, she scowled.
"Well?" the woman demanded an explanation that, by all semblances, she did not truly expect to receive. One of her eyebrows came up into a fine arc as she waited.
"Well what?" her mother did a perfect job of imitating her tone and staring straight into her eyes. The woman's two sons stood by her, menacingly grim.
Amirah sighed impatiently and rolled her eyes. "You have no claim over the ring," she insisted stubbornly. "It is the only thing father left ME. You got all the rest."
"We all know you've had your influent friends forge our father's will, Amirah," one of the brothers replied sternly, refusing to back off one single inch of ground.
"Prove it." The smirk on the Shaaryan warrioress' lips by that point said more than any possible proof ever could. Alas for the other three, it was no official evidence that could stand up for their case.
"What has greed made of you, my daughter?" the mother sighed, her shoulders slumping under the burden of regret. "I do not recognize you."
For a moment, the Shaaryan leader's own fierceness faded away and she averted her gaze from the aging woman she had before her. A remnant of respect, perhaps. "I have already explained the three of you – in detail, no less – that the powers which reside within the ring are too much for your simple minds."
"You have also failed," one of the brothers retorted sharply, "to mention which powers those are, exactly."
"You see, Amirah," the other came to add, "it is not about the ring itself, powerful though you say it is. We wish to know why you did this to your family. Then you can keep your damned ring."
"I could lie to you, ensure your safety and make myself look like an ordinary swindler. Or I could tell the truth, restore myself and damn all of you." The warrioress looked at them intently, pleadingly. "But no. I beg of you, leave this curse to me." Amirah turned away from the three to look in the distance, to whatever spot she could make out between tree trunks. "Go home," she bid soothingly. "You have more than you need."
"No, Amirah," the mother said sadly, shaking her head. "We have the right to know, just as much as you do."
"Can't you see I'm trying to protect you?" the daughter turned upon her older interlocutor and almost shouted straight in her face, her fiery temper erupting once more. She then gritted her teeth and pulled away again, apparently shaken by a fit of agitation and rage that no one would have thought the noble, collected leader possessed.
"From something we do not wish to be protected from," came the unanimous reply.
"Fine!" the warrioress shrugged nervously and fixed all of them with a glare, as an ensemble. "So long you have stalked me for this and now I am found. You wish to know and you shall. But await your death to come and me to be incapable of stopping it." Silence ruled for a few moments, as the family awaited the rest of the answer with the same determination. A resigned Amirah finally continued. "There is an ancient d..."
Her words were cut short by a sound so feeble and natural that most wouldn't even have noticed it. But she was a perceptive one, having been forced to always run and hide in the utmost secrecy of all; she knew when someone was lurking about – listening. "A spy!" she growled, and grabbed a dart from the pouch on the side of her belt. "Nobody spies on me, no matter their intent." The very next moment, she was off in the woods, a baffled mother and two equally confused brothers left behind.
It had gotten dark enough quickly from there; afternoon was already at its end when Amirah had dragged her mother and brothers away to talk. The family had returned without the warrioress, and though the two merged parties – who had decided it would be wise not to try and escape while surrounded by a throng of thugs – were pretty curious about her absence, they did not ask anything of the three morose figures.
Ivendil had easily managed to light a proper fire, contained within a circle of rocks he had found... well, wherever he had found them. The party had other, more pressing matters to discuss than bothering about that. Nirra had quickly joined the archer by the flames and had assured the others she would properly fill him in on their situation; it seemed like the two gold elves had many memories and news to share, and the others fully respected their decision to isolate themselves.
Torri had withdrawn from the fire enough to give space to the two and she had dragged Knave with her most determinedly, demanding her own explanation. Xan and Solaufein could obviously not remain alone together, so they were forced to follow the pair as well. The small group of four was seated a safe distance away from any of Amirah's relatives, any of the the half-orcs and various other brigands, as well as respectfully distanced from Nirra and Ivendil.
"So you're telling me everyone we've seen here is after that little ring?" Torri raised a disbelieving eyebrow Knave's way once the mage was done with the story.
The full extent of it was that the human and Nirra had known about the Talassans' pursue of the object ever since before leaving Brynnlaw. The cause for them arriving later than the ship's scheduled departure had been the violent encounter with a rather disturbed Priest of Talos; the man had preferred to think they were lying about not being able to remove the ring and attacked them. Furthermore, Knave's suspicions went as far as to insinuate that the storm which had thrown them off board had been provoked by the priests; the initial purpose was probably to get the ship off its course and shipwreck it on the coast. Nirra's fall into the waters had destroyed that plan and the Talassans had probably thought the ring lost forever... until the party had emerged from the Underdark. Torri and Solaufein could figure it out by themselves from there, the ambush at the cave included, and they were also explained about Amirah. The only question that remained was how exactly the two groups had been able to track them down so efficiently.
"Yes," Knave responded, nodding. "The Talassans wanted it, Amirah wants it, by all semblances her family wants it too."
"But why?" Torri mused, rather indignant about it all. "What could be so important about it; what does it do?"
"It doesn't matter, Toreen," Xan said with a deep sigh. "We probably won't survive long enough to see anyway. So you can save the effort and stop tormenting your mind with pointless questions."
"Thank you, Xan, that was most useful to know," she rolled her eyes at him.
"Hope dies last," he muttered in response.
Oddly enough, though Torri did her best to look exasperated, her smirk begged to differ. However, she did return to seriousness the very next moment, and much to all three of her companions' sheer amazement, she turned to Solaufein. "Drow. Any suggestions?" she demanded promptly.
The three joined together in a surprised session of confused staring, but finally the drow shrugged. "I am not familiar with the way you surfacers imbue your items with magic," he said. "But this Amirah does seem to have been after the Talassans as much as after the ring. What if the priests possess any key to unlocking more of the item's magic?"
"That could be an idea," Knave agreed. "More plausible a theory than all we have thought of so far."
"And definitely more plausible than us all being totally and utterly DOOMED," Torri grinned, with pompous mockery, as she was poking at Xan's arm. The mage only managed to look even more miserable as he continued to eye the ground in a highly lifeless state.
"The lythari," Knave interrupted, a sparkle of hope suddenly rising in his voice. "Might she know anything about it?"
"She probably did," Xan did not fail to note. "But, lucky as we are, she left."
"I did doubt the Talassans would have harmed the forest enough to invoke THAT kind wrath from the spirits," Torri hurried to agree, ignoring her gloomy old friend this time, as she eyed the human.
"And the way they felt when we reached out to them," Solaufein said. "I know how it feels when you wish for rightful revenge. That was not the emotion they conveyed."
"True enough," the moon elven fightress agreed. "But we must not forget the spirits are not avengers, they are defenders."
"At any rate," Knave attempted to sum it all up. "The lythari MIGHT know something. And, as Xan was eager to point out, she DID leave."
Even Xan himself looked up from the ground and they all exchanged insecure and worried glances; eventually, four pairs of eyes ended up looking at Nirra and Ivendil. The two gold elves were just laughing quietly at something one of them had said; overall, they seemed pretty tranquil and unconcerned.
"I may be able to subtly pry more from Amirah herself," Knave offered. "But I cannot promise much, with her temper."
"Worth trying," Torri nodded her agreement to him, and stood up abruptly, dusting torn blades of grass off herself. "But we need to find the lythari."
"Need to no more," Amirah's voice came calmly from their right and soon her smiling face emerged from the shadows. "And by the way... just try to 'pry out' anything, and you'll see what happens."
Just then, she tossed an object about the size and feel of a ball to the ground and it coincidentally rolled over to Xan's feet. The mage startled and his eyes widened as he drew back from the scene. The expressions on his companions' faces were no less distressed and outraged. The sight even managed to capture a casual glance of Ivendil's and turn it into an authentic stare.
"What have you done, foolish, reckless human?" the wood elf half-lamented, half-accused in outrage as he sprang to his feet and came over, followed by an equally horrified Nirra.
For a few more moments, no member of the group said anything else, while Amirah grinned and they all stared down at the blood-stained silver-haired head in the grass. The expression on the beautiful features was one of horror and pain, the final agonizing moment of an innocent who would never harm a thing without serious purpose.
"If anyone wants the raven, I left that one in the forest," Amirah finally broke the moment of stunned bewilderment. "I could perhaps still point the right direction." She sneered, seeming more than just amused with the entire situation.
"Your deed will not remain unpunished," Ivendil advanced on her, his bow strung and an arrow ready for a close-quarter shot, a move that had been so swift no one had noticed it at all. His eyes flashed with an anger that knew no limits, well concealed though it may have been beneath the mask of solid stone that was his expression at that moment.
"Really?" the bold woman taunted recklessly. In the blink of an eye, her hand had reached out with lightning reflexes and she snatched the arrow right out of his bow, easily tossing it away and leaving behind a vibrating string. "Do not try any move on me again," Amirah warned and carelessly turned her back on them all, beginning to stroll away.
Ivendil had another arrow ready in a matter of seconds, and he aimed precisely the very next moment, but before he could shoot, he had to yelp in surprise and drop his weapon. A dart stuck out from the back of his wrist, and he pulled it out with a free hand that trembled awfully with rage.
Before he could blindly launch himself into an attack that would most likely end in his death, as Amirah obviously desired, Torri stepped forth and placed an unusually heavy hand on his shoulder. The wood elf could hear his bones crack under the pressure of grasping fingers and he had to turn around like the moon elf wanted him to or risk breaking one. Their eyes locked contact, and though he was grim and motionless in his righteous anger, Torri was the one that dominated. "You will avenge her, Ivendil," she said firmly. "But you cannot accomplish anything by following her in death."
A tense moment of silence was next, and then muscles relaxed and sighs erupted from all chests. Everyone else in the group had been watching.
Amirah's family had been watching, too. The party didn't notice when the mother and sons glanced at them for one last time and then gathered together and began to whisper. Apparently, the Shaaryan leader did not either, too busy re-ordering her men around.
As much as she would have liked to, after all she had been through, Nirra couldn't sleep. Curled up at the best distance from the fire and completely coated in her blanket, she lay still in the night, listening to the others' breathing. She was aware of the guards, all of them Amirah's men, standing on each edge of the clearing, but they were far enough – and stupid enough – for her not to worry they should notice her open eyes.
And then her ears caught the sound. It seemed to be a distant hissing fit, that beckoned for her to listen intently, to focus on it entirely. And so she did, without even realizing she had, in her frozen state and with her transfixed gaze locked on the moon above the small clearing.
"Nehera," it said, reeking of a sweetness and benevolence that almost felt material, as if they were wrapping around her and her blanket. "Why are you so weak?"
The gold elf flinched and was barely able to contain a gasp. She was scared. Yes, she was weak.
"You could be ssstrong," the invisible snake continued, and for a moment she almost thought she saw its elongated form slither through the grass towards her. Only an illusion. "Sssstronger than her, and you know it..."
Nirra knew who 'she' was. But she did not want to be...
"You ssssaw," the snake interrupted, and seemed to be pleased this time. "How he looked at her. While you are no longer more than a ssssimple friend."
Friend. The word echoed through Nirra's mind, and she felt her heart growing small at the thought of Torri and Ivendil growing close... so close. But she was, indeed, nothing more than a friend now. And things were good that way.
And anyway, you do not want to imagine pointless possible futures, she mentally demanded from herself.
Indeed, she did not.
"Oh, but you will."
She would.
"YOU could be the sssstrong one... the admired one. You need but try. Sssnatch the power from her, Nehera."
Again, she would. When she was ready. For now, she wished to retain her innocence, her positive and helpful views of life.
"Cling to that, then," the snake seemed to chuckle, this time plain out malicious. "You will let go, in the end..."
And then it said no more. And Nirra did cling, with every fiber of her being. She did not want to believe the deceiver; for it WAS a deceiver.
And not once did the gold elf wonder about its source. Nor did she remember hearing it in the first place.