"That's it, you heard me. You've a problem? Bring it, if you're man enough... or take it up the chain, if you're a coward."
Mrrl remembered a fountain, and not being able to move. Something was wrapped around him. A rope, or chain perhaps? His right arm managed to free itself shortly after the start of the deafening silence. Blood ran down it like a trickling river.
Mrrl faced a rusty metal bar fence that enclosed some sort of garden. Beyond that was another half-orc. His skin was peeling from his flesh, revealing the muscle and tendons underneath. He emitted low beastly snarls as he reached out to him through the bars, listening intently to him. Not one to disappoint, Mrrl continued his tale.
"You heard me, coward. You not deaf. Take it up the chain of command or you can..." he tried his best to stifle his laughter. "...kiss my leathery arse!" the second the words left him, Mrrl roared a loud guffaw. "That's right, that's what I said, you heard me." He continued once he calmed down. "And then this idiot, he takes a swing, and well..." once again he broke out into hysterical laughter, "oh, you should've seen the look on his face, when I punched out his front teeth. Yeah, five of them." He rose his bloody arm forward weakly. "One punch, that's all it took." His antics soon died down as he reflected on those events. Additional listeners joined the half-orc to hear his story. He was obligated to finish it now. "Oh, gods, sixteen days in the dungeons." He drew a throaty sigh. "That's what them teeth cost me." He grew mellow and sighed again. "That was... that was a hard time... but by the gods it was worth every minute, just to see the bastard spit his teeth out onto the ground." He looked up at his audience, there was now quite a crowd, and grinned. "Yes, ser, worth every minute."
The wind whistled through the garden. Mrrl looked up at the clear blue sky. His eyes grew heavy, and he let them drop.
He heard a screech. He opened his eyes and watched as the fence leaned forward slightly. Realization struck him all at once. He remembered.
"Oh, no, no, no!" He struggled furiously, kicking his legs against the surface of the fountain. "No, no, no, no! Great Tyr!" he grunted and pulled fruitlessly against his binds. He had freed one arm, now if he could just do the same with the other. "No, no, merciful Grimjaws! No, no, no, no. Help me!" he cried out. Tears began to well. He rammed the back of his head into the pillar he was chained to.
The door behind him emitted a banging sound. Muffled growls reached him from behind the closed door. Mrrl sobbed furiously and squeezed his eyes shut.
"Oh, Blind, Blind, Tyr, Maimed God, The Just God." He whispered desperately. "Please, I didn't behave, I know. I know you lot are punishing me, I know. I... oh, I deserve it, I deserve it, I've been bad. Help me now, show me the way. Go on, tell me what to do." He opened his eyes and the world was a watery blur. "Go on, tell me what to do." He choked.
Nothing. As he predicted, his last resort bared no fruit. The fence denying the walkers entry was slowly peeling back, and the ones behind him were no longer muffled by the door. he craned his head left to see the ones at the door, and his eyes fell on something lying in the fountain's basin. It took him a few moments to realise what it was. His curved dagger.
He laughed triumphantly and looked up to the heavens. "OK. Never you mind you worthless old cripple," he shouted, "I never begged you before, nor will I start begging now." He twisted his torso around to seize the knife. "You tell the others that! I will never beg you!" his voice strained. "I never begged any of you before."
He stretched painfully and the very tips of his fingers touched the back blade of the knife. He carefully pulled it towards him. Slowly, it inched ever closer.
The fence plummeted to the ground.
"Oh, shit."
Rillick pulled his shortsword out of the head of a human walker. It fell lifeless onto the pile of the others that came before it. Fortunately, what with the brunt of the hoard occupying the distant ringing belltower, they came very occasionally and never more than three at a time at the most, which he was more than equipped to deal with.
Sitting in the cart were the rest of the party. The halfling Morralees, the dwarf Ty-Varaz, the half-elf Anderea and the only other human aside from himself, Ja'qi.
"Best ye not dwell on it that Mrrl were left behind." Said Morralees. Rillick's face must've given away the great guilt he felt. "Nobody'll be saddened he didn't come back... except maybe Dar."
"Dar?" Rillick asked.
"His brother."
Any further thoughts on the subject were interrupted as Rillick smiled in relief as he heard hooves on stone, followed by laughing and cheering.
Gelnen tore around the corner wearing a huge grin on his face. Fjord reared up to prevent herself from crashing into the cart.
Morralees looked over to Rillick and gave a hollow smile. "At least somebody's havin' a good day."
Once Gelnen, rather reluctantly, jumped off, Rillick set to work fastening his horse to the cart, This time taking the time to make sure it was properly secure. Anderea and Ja'qi sidled up to help him.
"Give it back. Stop it. No!"
"I found it."
"No!"
Lorelai looked over Chorrol's head and smiled in amusement at the family of halflings. The two girls were quickly calmed by their mother. She always found halflings to be incredibly cute, although she knew how they would react if they found out. She felt movement below her which snapped her back to her current task. She pulled upwards a cluster of Chorrol's hair and snipped at the strands using the shears.
"Dear, the more you fidget, the longer it takes, so don't, OK?" said Lorelai firmly.
"I'm trying." Whined Chorrol.
"Well, try harder."
"If you think that's bad, wait 'til you start shaving."
Shaan sat opposite the two with a greatsword rested between his legs. He ran a whetstone along the edge of the blade. the sharp ringing of the steel may have irritated Lorelai at one time, but now it sounded comforting.
"That hurts. Even now I cut myself sometimes." Shaan continued with his usual lop-sided grin. "That day comes, you'll be wishing for one of your mother's haircuts."
"I'll believe it when I see it." Chorrol grumbled.
Shaan laughed at Lorelai's shocked expression and thought for a moment. "Tell you what, you just get through this with some manly dignity, and tomorrow I'll teach you something special." He pressed lightly on the swords edge to test its sharpness. "I will teach you to catch frogs."
Chorrol looked at him with accusing eyes. "I caught a frog before."
"I said frogs, plural." He lifted the sword skyward to feel its weight. "It is an art, my friend, it is not to be taken lightly. There are ways and means, few people know about, and I'm willing to share my secrets."
Once again, Lorelai couldn't restrain the smile that crept across her face. At just how good Shaan was with him. Her son moved his head around for her permission but she caught it halfway and directed it back to the front.
"Oh, I'm a lady, you talk to him." She laughed.
This caused a chuckle from Shaan. "This is a one-time offer, friend, not to be repeated." He said with mock seriousness.
"Why do we need frogs, plural?" Asked Chorrol, his head guided to his chest.
"Ever eat frog legs?"
"No."
Shaan chuckled. "You have not lived until you've tried them."
"I have once," Lorelai added, "Not my thing, personally."
Shaan gave her a sly grin. "Well, we get down to that last bag of rations, you're going to be loving those frog legs."
"We'll see."
He turned his attention back to Chorrol, his grin remained. "You and me, we'll be heroes. Heroes, my son, spoken of in song and legend." He laughed heartily. "Alongside the tales of the Baal-spawn and the Kalach-cha, there's you and me, Shaan and Chorrol."
"Dall!"
"Hey!"
The three turned to the shouting. Shaan rose to his feet and rushed over to the ox-cart where Dall was looking through his telescope, his greatsword slung over his shoulder.
"Talk to me, Dall!" Shaan called as he neared.
"I see movement." He answered. "I can't tell yet."
"Is it them? Are they back?" Amee approached his side, though made sure to keep her distance from him.
"What the?" Dall muttered.
"What is it?"
Dall hardly heard Amee's question. "A stolen horse? How? Where?"
Through the lens of the telescope, Dall watched as the stranger rode up the winding dirt trail to their camp. The pale yellow skin and glowing silver dots where his eyes were gave away his identity.
Moments later, Gelnen drove the horse to a halt in front of the oxen. Shaan and the other people approached him.
"Where in the blazes did you find that Faerun Warmblood?" Dall blurted without thinking.
Before Gelnen could answer, Amee pushed through the growing crowd with distress on her face. "My sister, Anderea... is she all right?"
Gelnen stammered at the sudden question. "They're at a cart-"
"Why isn't she with you?" she frantically interrupted. "Where is she? She's OK?"
"Yes!" Gelnen shouted. Then lowered his voice again. "Yeah, fine, everybody is. Well, Mrrl, not so much." He drew a breath to calm his ire. "Look, we arrived by horse-cart but one of the wheels broke. We need a replacement."
Shaan strode up to him with glowering eyes. "You want to waste one of our spare wheels? What, they can't walk?"
Gelnen slunk back. Dall leapt to the elf's defence.
"We have enough to spare one wheel, and we get three more in return if we do." Shaan's threatening gaze was directed at him. "I'm not arguing, I'm just saying." He quickly bolted on.
Dall never did like Shaan, but as each day goes by he liked him less and less. The man was simply not fit to lead. As he continues to do so, his craving for power grows. If this continues, he may be more dangerous than the dead.
Thankfully, Shaan looked away and nodded. "You're right."
"Thank you." Gelnen mumbled timidly.
A dwarf from the group rolled out a wagon wheel and fastened a rope on it and the horse's saddle.
Gelnen galloped away from the camp, the wheel dragging along behind him.
"That horse..." Shaan mumbled under his breath. "No, it can't be."
The rumble and crackle of the wagon behind Rillick was the only sound he let himself hear. His head was spinning, trying to search on what to say to his family when they arrive, if they were there at all. As they struggled up a hill, someone from inside the cart leapt out, and Anderea bolted into view and over the crest. Someone shuffled onto the driver's seat and clapped him on the arm.
"Come meet everybody." Said Morralees.
Rillick smiled politely, and motioned to the half-elf. "You go ahead. I'll deliver the cart."
Morralees nodded, jumped off and followed Anderea up the hill.
One by one, everyone filtered out and disappeared over the crest, leaving Rillick alone to man the cart.
He heard joyful voices ring out beyond him as the people he met reunited with their families.
"Anderea!"
"Amee!"
"Papa!"
"You scared me."
He took a shaky breath and pulled slightly on the reins. Fjord slowed her movements. He forced himself to spur her forward again.
Lorelai looked out at everyone as they ran into each others arms. Amee had her sister in a tight embrace, Morralees walked back cheerfully with one his daughters on his shoulder. Chorrol leant his head on her leg and began to sniff. She looked down and saw the tears that welled in his eyes. It matched her own. She leant down.
"Come here, my sweet."
She pulled him into her arms and looked up to see Shaan look her way with remorse in his eyes. He clearly felt the pain of losing his best friend.
"You are a welcome sight." Dall said cheerfully to Morralees as they broke from a hug. "I thought we lost you for sure." He began to lift him off the ground, but Morralees pushed him away playfully.
"Hey, hey, now," he laughed, "ye know how my kind feel about that."
"How did you lot get out, anyways?" Shaan approached them, his serious demeanour darkened the mood.
"Newcomer, he got us out." Gelnen chimed in from Shaan's side.
"Newcomer?"
The wagon rolled into view right on cue. Morralees grinned, returning to their cheerful atmosphere.
"Aye, crazy fella just got into town." He turned to the approaching vehicle. "Hey, wyvern lad, come make yer greetins." He turned back to Shaan. "Lad's a watchwolf, like ye."
Rillick slid onto the ground and walked around Fjord's side. He looked out among the crowd of faces before him. There were a surprising number of various races, from halflings and elves, to gnomes and dwarves. But he was only interested in one thing. His eyes landed to that very thing.
He never lost hope, he knew that they must've been alive. But there was that one small part of him that thought he would never see them again. As his wife and son looked up and stared at him, unable to believe their eyes, it was that small part of him that made him charge across the field. To throw his arms around her. To pull his son into them, and weep with joy.
Shaan stood motionless, his jaw wide open. How should he react? Rillick was alive. he was standing in front of him, not dead, but alive and well. He should be happy. Overjoyed.
As Rillick looked at him over Lorleai's shoulder, he forced himself to smile.
"Disoriented. I suppose that is closest."
Night had fallen. The flames of a low campfire flickered across the faces that surrounded it. The beastmaster Dall, his green scarf wrapped tightly around his neck and a tankard of... water in hand, stoked the flames and kept it alive, but not too lively. The two half-elf sisters sat beside him shared a blanket between them, huddling for warmth. Gelnen and Ty-Varaz were next around the circle, sharing a pack of rations. Morralees held his daughters close as his wife slept soundly with her head in his lap.
Then there was Rillick.
On any other occasion, Lorelai and Chorrol would sit beside Shaan, with Lorelai as close as she could manage without drawing suspicion. Now, she sat across from him, entangled in her husband's arms, his hand lightly brushing her hair. but of course she and Chorrol would sit with him, Shaan rationalised, he was her husband and she thought him dead.
"Disoriented. Fear, confusion, all these things," Rillick continued, "but... disoriented comes closest."
"Words can be meagre things." Said Dall, not looking up from the fire. "Sometimes they fall short."
Rillick drew an uneven breath, then continued. "I met a centaur named Alenn. He was separated from his herd. He saved my life, and I lead him to his death."
Lorelai tenderly stoked the back of his hand. "There was no way you could have known. I'm sure he knew that."
There was a long pause before Rillick spoke again. "I felt like... I had been torn out of my life and put somewhere else. For a while I thought I were trapped in some illusion of a dying mind, something I may never wake from, ever."
"Mother said you died." Whispered Chorrol from under his chest. He peered down at him. Then at Lorelai.
"She had every reason to believe that. Do not ever doubt it."
"When things started to get really bad, they told me at the temple, they were to evacuate you and the other sick and wounded to Neverwinter... and it never happened." Lorelai explained, with an edge of guilt.
Rillick shook his head and sighed. "I'm not surprised Neverwinter fell."
"Indeed."
"By the gods. Undead who can enter places of worship. What dark magic could've brought these creatures into being? And why? To what end?"
"I barely got them out... you know?" said Shaan suddenly. It sounded almost bitter, but Rillick shook it off. It was true he didn't thank him properly.
"I cannot tell how grateful I am to you, Shaan." He poured every ounce of gratitude he could into his words. "I cannot begin to express it."
"There goes them words again." Dall chuckled. "Paltry things, the lot of them."
A thud interrupted everyone's thoughts as a log dropped onto the burning coals at their center. The fire grew hotter and brighter and a human man in torn tatters slumped back down onto the ground and heaved a loud sigh.
Shaan tracked his movements, glaring at him all the while, and only when he sat down did he speak.
"Hey, Eddard, you want to rethink that log?"
"It's cold." He said dismissively.
"The cold doesn't change the rules, does it? Keep our fires low, just embers, so we cannot be seen from a distance, yes?"
Eddard glared at him. "I said, it's cold. You should mind your own concern for once."
Shaan looked down at his feet. Rillick observed him clap his hands on his knees and rise to his feet. Ty-Varaz and Gelnen shifted uncomfortably as he marched over to Eddard and stared him down.
"Ned... you sure you want to have this conversation?" he said in a harsh hushed tone.
Eddard never averted his glare, and sneered. "Go on then, pull that thing out. Go on."
Before Shaan could react, a human woman crept around and pulled the log out of the fire.
"Helm's breath." Shaan hissed under his breath.
He stamped out the burning log and returned to his spot around the fire, and looked toward the woman who sat with a girl who stared forlornly into the flames.
"Hey, Cralo, Salpha, how are you lot this eve?" Shaan gently asked the two.
Cralo looked away. "Fine. We're just fine."
"OK."
"Sorry about the fire."
Shaan held his hand in front of him. "No, no, no, no apology needed. You lot have a good night, OK?"
"OK."
"I appreciate the cooperation."
"Have you any thoughts about Dar Dixxiun?" Asked Dall, once the three left for their tents. "He won't be happy to hear his brother were left behind."
Ty-Varaz gave the fire a determined look. ""I'll tell 'im. I dropped tha key. It's on me."
"I chained him." Said Rillick. "That makes it mine."
"People, it's not a competition." Gelnen explained. "I don't mean to bring race into this but it might sound better coming from someone who isn't level to his..." he coughed awkwardly. "Waist."
"I did wha' I did." Ty-Varaz shot back. "To tha abyss, if I'm ta hide it from him."
"We could lie." Amee offered.
"Or tell the truth." Anderea returned. "Mrrl was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed." She then spoke to Lorelai. "Your husband did what was necessary." She addressed everyone else. "If Mrrl got left behind, it is nobody's fault but Mrrl's."
"And that's what we tell Dar?" asked Dall. "I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you? A word to the wise, we'll have our hands full when he comes back from his hunt."
"I was afeared and I ran." Said Ty-Varaz, firmly. "I am not ashamed."
"We were all scared." Anderea returned. "We all ran. What's your point?"
"Remember tha dagger he pulled on me? I stopped long enough to throw 'im that. I also pushed a table up to tha door. Thar's no way tha gluttons can get through that door. That only leaves tha ones on tha fence, which is sturdier than most other fences. If Mrrl can somehow free an arm he's go'a fightin' chance." He rose to his feet and turned to Anderea. "My point, Dixxiun's alive and 'e's sill thar, chained to that fountain. Tha' is on us."
From the other side the tent, illuminated by a single lantern, Lorelai lay on her bedroll, looking over to where Chorrol lay. Even now she had a hard time believing what was in front of her. Rillick, her husband presumed dead, rested a hand on Chorrol's head, and gently stroked his hair.
"I found you." He whispered.
"I love you, father." Chorrol sleepily whispered back.
Rillick planted a kiss on their son's forehead. "I love you, Chorrol."
Once Chorrol's eyes were closed, Rillick crawled carefully over to her and wrapped her into his embrace. "I found you both."
Despite the drunken joy she felt, there was a lingering sense of dread that never left her. "Indeed." She said.
"I knew I would."
Lorelai pushed away and grinned. "You're getting boastful now, a little bit."
"No, I knew. Walking into our home, finding an empty house, both of you gone."
Lorelai began to tear up as the dread she felt grew stronger. "I'm so sorry."
"I knew you were alive."
She looked into Rillick's eyes. He thought she was referring to leaving him in the temple. She was sorry for that too, but that was only part of it. She needed to tell him. Somehow. But how? She opened her mouth to explain, and stopped, stammering silently.
"How?" was all she could say.
Rillick smiled. "Your book."
Despite everything, this caused Lorelai to chuckle. She knew how meaningless the book was, but she couldn't bring herself to leave it. It ended up helping in a small way, to calm her. Rillick knew her all too well, it seemed.
She reached under her pillow and pulled it out and opened to the latest page. Rillick grinned again.
"I told you so."
"Now you're getting boastful. A lot."
She rested the back of her head on Rillick's chest and held it aloft for him. He reached out and pointed to the words written.
"This is the one you're working on?"
"Yes. I finished it."
Lorelai cleared her throat and began to read poem aloud, but quietly as not to wake Chorrol. Rillick listened intently.
When she was done, she looked expectantly at him.
Rillick grunted in approval. "Marvellous."
She closed the book and stared at the cover in silence. Finally she drew a shaky breath. "My love, I never thought I'd see you again. I'm so sorry... for everything. I feel like... when you were in the temple, I just, I wanted to take it all back. The anger and the bad times. But the mistakes-"
Her ramblings were silenced when Rillick pushed his lips onto hers.
"Maybe we have a second chance." Said Rillick once they broke away. "Not many folk get that."
Lorelai smiled and lifted the locket from underneath the neck of her night gown. Rillick's eyes lit up.
He took the trinket onto his palm. "You still have it."
"Of course!"
They kissed again, inhaling deeply into each other. She felt his hands trail up her body and to the shoulder straps. He looked cautiously over to Chorrol sleeping soundly across the tent.
Lorelai hesitated. She felt no desire in her husband's embrace. This alone nearly brought her to tears.
"He won't wake up." She said simply.
That was all the incentive Rillick needed. He rolled on top of her, slipped the straps of her night gown down her shoulders and buried into her neck. For the time they spent apart and the pains he endured to get to her again, it would be cruel to deny him this. As Rillick entered her, her mind drifted to Shaan. Rillick was gentler than he, taking his time to take every part of her. He was caring and loving, Whereas Shaan was rougher and more urgent.
She then quickly and violently shoved away her thoughts of Shaan. She wanted to scream to herself. Was she really comparing her own husband to another? Each time Rillick thrusted into her, it took every ounce of her willpower not to burst into tears.
Shaan sat on the top of the ox-cart, a shortbow resting on a small crate and a dimmed lantern kept him company. He looked onward to the tent lit from inside. Lorelai's tent. His friend was inside, that was for certain, and it enraged him to think of what they were no doubt doing.
His best friend was alive when he thought him dead. He saved the lives of the camp's most important assets. But none of that mattered.
All he felt was hatred, and cold, bitter envy.
Rillick awoke to the chitter of insects and the playful shouts of children. He looked around and realised he was alone. He wondered how long he had slept.
He exited the tent and straightened. All around him, folk wandered past, going about various tasks. A few people noticed him, and uttered their greetings as he strolled toward the center of the settlement.
As he neared the ox-cart, a human woman with short hair and a dirty worn dress approached him with a warm smile. Rillick recognised her from last night. Cralo, if his memory served him.
"Greetings. The cotton's a little damp. The sun will dry them in due haste." In her hand was his guard's uniform and chainmail which she passed to him.
"You washed my armor?" Rillick had to admit he was surprised at the generous hospitality.
"Well, best we could." She laughed. "Blood is hard to scrub out. I long for the days of dirt and mud."
"That is very kind." He bowed his head politely. "You have my thanks."
Rillick continued onward past the pen that held the horses. Dall, Gelnen and a few other folk he didn't recognise tended to them, and he could see Fjord mingling among them.
As he neared the ox-cart in the center of the settlement, he walked up to Lorelai busily hanging clothes on a nearby line with Anderea and her sister Amee.
With each step, worry crept closer and dread with what would come next. But his guilt and sense of duty were stronger.
"Good tidings, captain." She grinned.
"Greetings." Rillick returned.
"You sleep well?"
"Better than in a long time."
"Well, I didn't want to wake you." She laughed. "I figured you could use it."
She paused and stared, studying his face, which must've betrayed his emotions. "What?"
Lorelai knew him all too well, it seemed.
Rillick sighed. "I've been thinking, of the half-orc we left behind."
Another pause. When she realised what he was suggesting, she looked away and averted her gaze. She did that when she disapproved of something.
"You're not serious?" she said coldly.
Shaan's voice rung out. "Water's here, you lot! Just a reminder to boil before use."
They turned to see him astride his own horse, Highland Ire, with bulging saddlebags tied to either side filled with what Rillick assumed was water. A few villagers took out their waterskins and hurried over.
"Are you asking me or telling me?" Lorelai returned them to the topic at hand.
"Asking." He lied.
"Well, I think it's mad. I think it is the stupidest way to break your-"
An ear piercing scream of terror echoed out to them. It had the voice of a child.
"Chorrol? Chorrol!" Lorelai dropped the clothes basket and bolted towards the sound. Rillick followed close behind. Shaan drew his greatsword and darted to their side and tossed him his longsword.
"Mother!"
Chorrol tore through the underbrush, sobbing into Lorelai's arms. She waved the two men forward.
"I've got him!"
Rillick and Shaan burst into a clearing and stopped still. In the middle was a freshly killed deer, arrows stuck out from its hide and its throat had been violently torn open. On top of the deer was the largest wolf Rillick had ever seen. It came up to his chest in hight at least. Its fur was dark brown with a white patch around his eye, and thick bony spikes protruded from its torso. A dire wolf. Though it must still be relatively young as they can grow to the size of a horse, and this one wasn't nearly as large. Its mouth was dripping dark murky blood. Rillick's eyes trailed down to the walker that lay in front of it.
Gelnen, Anderea, Amee and Dall all caught up to them and Rillick inched forward, his sword poised. The wolf bore its teeth and snarled menacingly. He eyed the beast, waiting to see what it would do.
"Harley!" a voice rung out from the treeline beyond. "Enough of that. Heel."
The dire wolf ceased and changed to a more casual stance.
A figure shoved his way into the clearing. Standing before Rillick was a half-orc with light grey skin and an open vest with tight-fitting trousers. In his hand held a strange looking crossbow with some sort of contraption with a lever and a wreath of dead squirrels slung over his shoulder.
"What in the hells is the matter with you?" the man spoke to the wolf as he approached.
Rillick concluded this must be 'Dar'. It was clear who acquired the human genes in the family. His tusks were significantly smaller and were only barely visible from his mouth.
"You know you can't go scaring children like- Oh, no." he stopped at the deer, and his face twisted in anger. "Son of a whore... that's my deer!" He circled around the deer to the dead walker. "Look at it, Harley, all gnawed on by this filthy," he rammed his boot into the walker's ribs, "disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!"
"Calm down, my son." Dall stepped forward. "That isn't helping."
Dar's head snapped around to his direction, eyes burning with rage, and stormed up to him. "What do you know about it?" he growled. "Why don't you take that stupid scarf and go back to your tulip garden?"
He slumped his shoulders, turned back to the deer and sighed. He wandered over and yanked the arrows from its body. "We've been tracking this deer for miles. We were to drag it back to camp, cook us some proper meat." He dropped down at Harley's side and placed a hand on his neck. "What do you think, boy, think we can cut around the chewed up part right here?"
"I would not risk that." Shaan answered for the wolf.
Dar turned his head around. "That's a damned shame." He rose to his feet. "Well, we got some squirrel, about a dozen or so. That'll have to do."
There was a sound of rasping breath, and the walker slowly reached his hand out. Before anyone could react, the wolf chomped sown on its head and tore it off its body, then proceeded to gulp it down. Each bite was followed by a sickening crunch as the skull was crushed by its powerful jaws.
Amee looked away in disgust. "Oh, gods."
"Oh, come on people." Dar sneered in amusement and ruffled the wolf's head. "Beasts don't get infected. Don't you lot know that?"
Dar pushed past the group and headed towards the camp. Harley trotted beside him. When they got back to the camp, Dar lead him into a pen, shut the gate, tossed him a squirrel and continued onward.
"That was the first walker we've had up here." Said Dall as they walked. "They never come this far up the mountain."
"Well, they're running out of food in the city, that's what." replied a human Rillick didn't know.
"Mrrl! Get your ugly arse out here!" Dar called out, ignoring the two.
Gelnen gave a nervous glance to Morralees.
"Got us some squirrel! Lets stew 'em up."
Shaan jogged up to his side. "Dar, just slow down for a moment, I need to talk to you."
"About what?" Dar asked, his eyes not leaving the front.
Shaan ran in front of him, halting his movements, and gripped his upper arm. "About Mrrl. There was a... there was a problem in Neverwinter.
This caught Dar's attention. He wrenched his arm free and glared down at him. The group hushed and waited.
"Is he dead?" he asked quietly.
Shaan backed away. A safe distance which Rillick recognised. He was preparing for a fight.
"We're not sure."
"He either is or he's not!" Dar growled. His breathing became more heavy.
Rillick wasn't about to let Shaan take responsibility of his own doing, and approached them, his own hand ready at his sword. Dar turned towards him. "No easy way to say this, so, I'll just say it."
"Who are you?"
"Rillick Grimoire."
"Rillick Grimoire," He strode towards him, "you have something you want to tell me?"
He took a breath to steel his nerves, and looked Dar in the eye. "Your brother was a danger to us all, so, I chained him to the pillar of the fountain in the Moonstone Mask's garden. He's still there."
The look of barely contained anger was evident on Dar's face, and he looked as if he was about to tear him apart. But instead, he looked to the ground and pace back and forth in front of him.
"Hold a moment, let me process this." He said strangely calm. "You're saying you chained my brother to a fountain, and you left him there?"
Rillick lingered in silence for a while longer before speaking.
"Aye."
Dar roared and threw the first object he could get his hands on. The wreath of squirrels. He ducked under it and Shaan threw himself onto Dar from behind and wrapped his arms under his shoulders. Rillick charged forward and tackled his legs. Dar thrashed and yelled as he fought the two.
"Let me go!"
"I think it best we don't." Shaan grunted. "Come now, we can keep this up all day."
Undoubtedly a lie to hopefully discourage him, for even with the combined might of the two former guardsmen, they barely drove him to his knees. When he finally calmed, his breaths sounded like growls.
Rillick, breathing heavily, let go and knelt down in front of him. "I would like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that?"
Dar growled and struggled against Shaan's iron grip.
"Do you think we can manage that?"
Finally, he gave in.
Upon feeling the muscles relax under his grip, Shaan shoved him away into the dirt and stood up. Dar scrambled to his feet and glared at them, waiting.
"What I did was not on a whim." Rillick explained. "Your brother does not work and play well with other folk."
"It's not Rillick's fault." A familiar voice sounded behind Dar. "I had tha key. I dropped it."
Dar turned around. Ty-Varaz stood with a determined frown while Gelnen failed to stop him.
"You couldn't pick it up?"
Ty-Varaz sighed and shook his head. "It slid through tha fence. Gluttons were on tha other side. I couldn'ta got it."
"If that's supposed to make me feel better, it don't."
"Per'aps this will. Look, I gave 'im a weapon so he had a figh'in chance, and I blocked tha door inta tha garden with a table, so tha gluttons couldn't ge' at 'im."
"It has to count for something." Rillick added.
Dar's fists scrunched tightly, rendering them white. Rillick could see the anger and hate visible on his face, and hoped he would not erupt into another frenzy. He wasn't sure he had the strength for another.
He threw his arms up at the three. "To the abyss with you lot!" he turned and shot a finger at Rillick. "You said he's at the Mask? I'll go get him."
"He'll take you there. Correct?"
Rillick turned at the sound of his wife's voice and found her leaning on the ox-cart, staring at him with a disapproving glare. He nodded in thanks and she looked away. He turned back to Dar.
"I'm going back."
Sliding his longsword into the sheath on the belt of his chainmail, Rillick ducked out of the tent. He walked up to Shaan, who's arms were crossed in discontent.
"So that's it?" he said. "You just walk off, to the abyss with everyone else?"
"I'm not saying to the abyss with anybody." Rillick sighed. "Not you, Shaan. Lorelai, least of all." He pushed past him and up the hill.
"Tell her that." He called out to him.
Rillick looked behind him. "She knows."
He continued towards the center of the camp. Annoyed at his friend's dismissal, Shaan chased after him.
"Well, look I... I don't, OK, Rillick, could you aid me here, friend?" Shan began to stammer. The usual thing he did when he was in distress. They rounded the crest of the hill and the ox-cart entered into sight. Shaan forcefully stopped their movements by grabbing Rillick's arm. "Could you tell me why you'd risk your life for a whoreson like Mrrl Dixxiun?"
"Hey, watch your tongue."
Shaan looked over to see Dar glaring at him.
"No need. Whoreson's what I meant." He turned back to Rillick and lowered his voice. "Mrrl Dixxiun wouldn't give you a mug of water if one were dying of thirst."
"What he would or would not do does not interest me." He said sternly. "I cannot let a man die of thirst. Thirst and exposure. We left him like a beast bound to a post. That is no way for anything to die, be you human, half-orc or whoreson."
"So, you and Dar, that's your big plan?" Lorelai was sitting quietly with Chorrol on a rock nearby. She stared at him with a vexed frown. Rillick considered this. That was a good point. He needed some more people. Perhaps someone who knows the area.
Thanks to the aid of extremely bad timing, Gelnen had sidled up to listen in on the conversation. He flinched as Rillick's head turned to his direction.
"Oh, come now!" he exclaimed, once his eyes landed on him.
"You know the way." Said Rillick simply.
"Then ask Ja'qi!"
"She may make the maps, but you know the best routes. In and out, no problem. You said so yourself."
Gelnen cursed himself for uttering those words. He was always warned his ego would catch up to him. Rillick did make a good point, though, but by the gods, he wasn't about to put his life on the line to rescue someone who was more trouble than he's worth, conscience be damned.
"It is not fair of me to ask, I know that," Rillick continued, "but I would feel a lot better with you along. I know she would too." He gestured to Lorelai.
"That's just wonderful." Cried Shaan. "Now you risk three men."
"Four."
Everyone turned their heads towards the new voice. Ty-Varaz stood determined.
"My day just gets better and better, don't it?" Dar scowled.
Ty-Varaz crossed his arm in defiance. "Ya see anybody else 'ere steppin' up ta save yer brother's cracked arse?"
"Why you?" Dar asked.
"Ya woudn'tae begin ta understand. Ya don speak me tongue."
Dall had joined them and nodded slightly in content. "That's four."
Shaan stormed up to Rillick. "You put all of us at risk. Just know that, Rillick." He tried to assert his own authoritative tone, one that worked until now. "Come, you saw that zombie. It was here. It was in the camp!" he addressed to everyone. "They're moving out of the city. If they return, we need every able body we have."
In a moment, Rillick smiled smugly. He quickly changed to something more tactical. "It would seem to me what you really need are weapons."
This caused an audible reaction from Gelnen. "Right... the weapons from..." he trailed off and remained silent.
"Wait, what weapons?" Shaan looked between the two, confused.
Rillick took a breath as he tried to recall the inventory. "Six longswords, two spears, over a dozen shortswords and some sturdy bucklers."
Shaan paused. "Condition?" he said slowly.
"Pristine. All quality steel, as you well know. I cleaned out the armory in the barracks before I left. My companion had the bag when he was killed in Neverwinter. It's sitting there in the street waiting to be picked up.
Shaan shuffled slightly uncomfortable.
"You journeyed all the way from Balder's Gate to find us." Lorelai spoke up, Rillick began to make his way to her side. Thankfully, he had built an immunity to her arguing. The strategy he came up with to combat this now became second nature to him. But then, something pierced his defences, and made him falter.
"Father, I don't want you to go."
"Abyss with the weapons." Lorelai continued, which helped him push through. "Shaan is right. Mrrl Dixxiun!?" her voice rose as he got closer. "He's not worth one of your lives, even with swords and spears thrown in!" she spat the last line as though it was mucus built up inside her mouth. Rillick remained calm, something he knew she despised. To counter this, she lowered her voice to a whisper. "Tell me." She pleaded. "Make me understand."
"I owe a debt to a man I met and his child." Rillick spoke softly. "Lorelai, if they hadn't taken me in, I would have died." He knelt down to eye level. "It is because of them I made it back at all." They said they'd follow me to Neverwinter. They'll walk into the same trap I did, if I don't warn them."
"What's stopping you?" said Lorelai, so quietly he only just heard her.
Rillick turned towards the small aviary where the doves were kept. He recognised Dio in the crowd, and pointed to him. "He's been relaying messages back to him. I had a stack of paper in the bag I dropped. Our plan was to connect when they got closer."
"Is that one of our doves?" asked Shaan.
Rillick nodded. "Aye."
He placed a hand under his chin.
"We can write him now." Anderea chimed in, making Rillick jump slightly in surprise of her arrival. "What's wrong with that?"
"Our doves are trained to only deliver a certain type of paper." Shaan explained. "This was to prevent enemies sending false reports." He chuckled grimly. "Was quite useful at the time. Now, though..."
"Can't we just use another?"
"Rillick's is the only dove who knows who to send the message to."
"I need that bag." Rillick clarified.
Lorelai looked at the ground at her feet, which Rillick understood as her reluctant blessing. Now for the other one, he thought.
He shuffled to face Chorrol and placed a hand on his shoulder. "OK?"
Chorrol stared into his eyes for a long time. Finally, he nodded once.
While Dar and Ty-Varaz tied Fjord back onto the cart, Rillick walked up to Dall, who was standing near the oxen with another human in a long coat.
"Rumour has it you have something that can cut through metal." Said Rillick.
Dall eyed him suspiciously. "Maybe."
Ty-Varaz joined Rillick's side. "Aye, That thing ye use ta cut down tha rivets when makin' armor." He turned to Dall. "We need get te tha Mask, though, We'll need ta cut tha chain holdin' 'im."
Dall's eyes darted back and forth between the two before him. "I never like lending my wife's smithing tools. Last time I did, and yes," he pointed accusingly at Ty-Varaz, "I am talking about you, let us say your bag of blades weren't the only bag that was dropped. The tools were left behind." He paused, "with Mrrl." He bolted on.
Rillick glanced at Ty-Varaz, then back to Dall, and thought hard. If he were to rescue Mrrl, he needed those rivet cutters. Then sighed subtly, annoyed at the growing complications this quest was acquiring.
"We'll bring your wife's tools back too." He said finally. "Think of the rivet cutters as an investment."
"Sounds more of a wager." He grumbled, but disappeared inside the ox-cart. After a short wait, Dall emerged with a large metal pincer-like tool. Rillick held out his hand to retrieve it, but Dall pulled the cutter away. "What do I get in return?" he asked.
Rillick quickly clenched his teeth from inside his mouth. More complications!
"What do you desire?" he said as calmly as he could. He was strangely eager to leave.
Dall thought for a moment. "How about one of those spears from the weapons you bring back?"
Rillick stifled a sigh of relief and nodded once. "Done."
The human who was silent the whole time cleared his throat, pushed off the cart and held out a hand. "Dall, lets... sweeten the pot a tad." He gestured to Fjord. "Now that mare of yours... she can pull, yes?"
"Yes, she's trained, as all our horses are." He looked at Fjord, then back again. "What of it?"
"One of our oxen hurt his leg pretty bad." He explained. "That's a problem if we need to get somewhere and want to get very far before it's well enough for him to pull again. Your horse, along with your guard friend's, can take the weight off until she's healed."
"Tell you what." Said Rillick impatiently. "We get back, you can use Fjord however you see fit."
"Hey!" Dar barked atop Fjord's wagon. "Come on, let's go!"
Rillick quickly grabbed the rivet cutter and bowed his head politely, "my thanks," and hurried to the wagon.
As he reached the driver seat, Shaan rushed up to him carrying a longsword. "Hey, Rillick, sharpened your blade lately?"
He gave a light gasp of realization and drew his longsword to inspect it. It was caked to the hilt with splotches of dried blood, with small dents and scratches along the blade. That procedure on the walker in the Mask's bathroom really did a number on it. Shaan held out the sword he held to him.
"Last time I was in the sparring grounds," he said with a smirk, "I took a spare longsword you can use."
Rillick laughed and took the sword from him. "You and your duel-wielding."
His light-hearted comment was not met with the same snarky remark he was so used to from Shaan. Instead, he was met with a serious frown.
"I hate that you're doing this, friend." He said. "I think it foolish and reckless, but if you're to go, you are taking a sharp blade."
Rillick's smile disappeared and he sheathed the new sword. "My thanks."
He watched Shaan walk away with a hint of sorrow. It was evident how much he changed. He took a breath and climbed up to the driver's seat, took the reins and spurred Fjord onward.
Lorelai dipped through the flaps of her tent and saw Chorrol lying on his bedroll, his back to her. She could only imagine the grief he was feeling at present. She crawled over to him, her own tears threatening to push through.
"Hey." She said softly. "I'm certain they'll be just fine." Though, she admitted, that was more for her than Chorrol.
Chorrol rolled over and smiled up at her. Lorelai almost shouted at how calm he was.
"I'm not worried." He stated without even a hint of worry or sadness. "Are you?"
Lorelai wanted to demand what was wrong with him, but she stayed her tongue.
"A little." She said instead.
Chorrol reached out to her. "Don't be."
She wiped the tears from her eyes. "Why?"
"Think about it, mother. Everything that has happened to him thus far... nothing's killed him yet."
Lorelai laughed. She felt more than a little jealous of his optimism. She took the child's outstretched hand into hers.
Gelnen tapped Rillick's arm. "We walk from here."
"Whoa there." Rillick pulled on the reins, driving Fjord to a stop.
Ty-Varaz and Dar sat inside the wagon, eyes lock on each other in uncomfortable silence.
"He better be OK." Dar growled quietly. "My only word on the matter."
"I told ye, tha gluttons cannae ge' at him." He returned immediately after. He was waiting for this moment. "Only thing tha'll ge' inta that garden is us."
A hard thud sounded out around the two as Rillick pounded on the cart, signalling them to exit.
"Dall, have you seen Chorrol?"
Dall turned to see Lorelai peering up at him from the top of the ox-cart, looking distraught.
"Shaan took him down to the river." He said, then turned back to overlooking the forest. "There was some bold talk of catching frogs."
It was confusing, Shaan thought, the conflicting feelings of Rillick's departure. On one hand, he hoped, preyed, that his best friend would return unharmed. On the other, he hoped Lorelai's husband would never return. But he could not have both, so which one did he prefer?
"I'm not getting anything."
Chorrol's voice forced him back to the present. He cleared his throat and tried to mask his troubled mind.
"Indeed. Being all wily, staying submerged." He said drearily, his mind still drifting a little. "Little blighters know something's amiss." He thought for a moment, then struck by an idea. "We just have to take a less subtle approach." He hovered the bucket just above the water. "All right, little one, look, you are the key to all this. I go after one, scare the rest of them. They scatter, I drive them your way."
On the opposite side of the river, with amused smiles along their faces, Cralo, Ja'qi and the half-elf sisters watched as Shaan plunged the bucket into the water and began shouting with exited encouragement to the laughing child. In their hands were a various assortment of dirty clothes they were scrubbing clean.
"I'm beginning to question the division of labour here." Said Ja'qi, a little vexed, behind them.
"What did you get?" Said Shaan, excitedly.
"Dirt." Chorrol answered in disappointment.
"Oh dear. We'll have to start over."
Ja'qi slumped in-between the two women with a grunt. "Can someone explain to me how the women ended up cleaning all the togs?"
Amee approached them, arms full of clothes, and dropped them onto the ground. "I'm not sure you've noticed, but the world ended. Officially this time."
Cralo began to feel the ever familiar feeling of danger sneaking up from behind her. When she looked behind to see her husband Eddard, what little joy she felt disappeared.
"Just the way it is." She whispered nervously.
Rillick squeezed through the gap in the wall after Gelnen and the others. The elf darted his head around, scanning for danger, then beckoned everyone onward.
"Mrrl first, or weapons?" asked Rillick as they ran along through what he recognised as the Beggar's Nest.
"Mrrl!" Dar spat aggressively. "Not having this conversation."
"We are." He said sternly, then addressed Gelnen at the front. "You know the cityscape. This is your call."
There was a pause as he considered. "Mrrl's closest. The weapons would mean doubling back. Mrrl first."
Each crunch of boot on gravel that sounded inbetween laughter made Cralo flinch. As they got closer, she flinched harder. Then it stopped, and the laughter died down. But she could hear a heavy breathing.
"What's so funny?" Eddard's voice scraped across her mind. She did not dare turn around.
"Just swapping war stories, Eddard." Anderea answered.
There was a long, uncomfortable silence.
"There a problem, Ned?" Anderea spoke again.
Cralo squinted her eyes at her comment. This could only end badly.
"Not that concerns you." Eddard growled. "And you would do well to focus on your task. This is no comedy theatre."
Lorelai rounded the top of the hill down to the river bank. Her eyes fell on Shaan with her son. He was keeping him close. To spite her and Rillick. He was trying to take Chorrol away from him, jealously hoarding him. The thoughts enraged her.
Fuming with rage, she stormed over to Shaan.
"Hey, Chorrol, what did I tell you about leaving Dall's sight?" she said with forced calm.
"But Shaan said we could catch frogs."
"It doesn't matter what Shaan says. It matters what I say. Go on. Back to camp. I'll be right behind you."
Chorrol slumped his shoulders and flopped away slowly up the up the hill, leaving Shaan submerged to his waist in water. Lorelai turned away without even a glance at him. She could not even if she wanted to.
"I have to tell you," he called out to her, "I don't think you should be taking it out on him."
"Don't tell me what to do." She called back without stopping. "You lost the privilege."
"Lorelai, wait." She could hear his footsteps come closer, which angered her even more. Even the thought of him near her made her skin crawl. "I think we should talk. We haven't had a chance-"
"That is over too." She said before he could finish. "You can tell that to the frogs."
But still he persisted, and she could swear she tried to touch her. "Look, I know not how it appears to you-"
She whirled around. "How it appears to me? I apologise, is there a grey area here?" She snapped a finger through the gap between them. "Let me dispel it. You stay away from me. You stay away from my son. You do not look at him. You do not talk to him. From now on, my family is off-limits to you."
Shaan backed away, his voice replaced with desperation. "Lorelai, I don't think that's fair."
"Shaan, shut it. Don't! My husband is back. He is alive."
"He is my best friend." He said, with a hint of anger in his voice. "Do you think me unhappy about that?"
"How dare you?" she snapped. "Why would you be? You were the one who told me he died. You son of a whore!"
With that, she turned around and left Shaan where he was, stammering pathetically on the spot.
Rillick stole through the main room of the building. The air was thick and musty, with an uneasy silence surrounding it. With his shortsword drawn, he rose his arm to stop the party. He cautiously pointed over to a dark corner where a lone walker swayed. A half-elf. Dar crept over to her and rose his loaded repeating crossbow.
"You are one ugly wench."
With a tap of the trigger, the bolt shot clean through the creature's head, and she slumped to the ground.
It was clear now. As Shaan watched Lorelai and Chorrol walk side-by-side, getting smaller every step, all the conflicting thoughts that plagued him for days disappeared.
Rillick had to die.
"Ned, tell you what... you don't like how we wash your clothes, you are welcome to do it yourself." Shaan looked over towards the voices over on the other side of the river. He hurried around to them.
"Not my job, Missy." Eddard snarled.
"What is your job, Ned? Sitting on your arse?" Anderea shot back.
He took a step closer to her. "It sure not listening to some uppity smart-mouthed whore."
"Anderea, please, it doesn't matter." Cralo whispered to her as she meekly pushed past everyone.
Despite the fear that crept up to her, Anderea stayed her ground. Eddard beckoned Cralo to him, but Anderea stopped her before she could reach him. "I don't think she needs to go with you."
"Hey, don't think I won't knock you on your arse, alright?" he motioned to Cralo again. "Now, come, or you'll regret it later."
"So she can show up with fresh bruises later, Ned?" said Ja'qi. When Eddard snapped his head towards her with blazing eyes, she continued. "Aye, we've seen them."
"Stay out of this!" he yelled to everyone, then grabbed Cralo roughly by the arm. "This is not the concern of any of you lot. Now I'm done talking." He began to drag Cralo behind him.
"No, Cralo," said Anderea, "you don't have to tell..."
Eddard lashed out and threw a punch. It connected across Cralo's jaw, which sent her sprawling on the ground. He grabbed her again by the elbow and yanked her to her feet. The other women crowded around him, punching, scratching, grabbing at him, but he merely ignored them as he rose his hand for another strike.
Shaan stormed up with such visible rage, everyone back away. He seized Eddard by the collar of his shirt, and hurled him onto the ground. Before he could recover, Shaan pinned him down under his bodyweight and drove a fist into him.
Shaan could not control his actions. Even if he tried. He ejected all his frustration. His sorrow, fear and jealousy into the man's bloodied face, again and again. There were muffled voices behind him, but they did not matter. Finally, he stopped. Eddard groaned and sobbed beneath him. He brought his face down inches away from his.
"If you put your hands on your wife, your little girl, or anybody else in this camp," he growled, "I will not stop next time. Do you hear me?"
"Y-yes." Eddard sobbed.
"I'll beat you to death, Eddard." He threw one last punch to eject his hatred for Eddard, and pushed away.
Cralo ran to his side, tears streaming. "Ned, I'm sorry!"
He looked around, baffled at the feared expressions of the women as he looks at them. He looked down at Cralo, crying loudly.
Lorelai had left him, for no reason other than a simple error, something he had no control over. Yet, here this woman is, with all the years of physical abuse, and is still loyal, never leaving his side. This alone almost made him begin his assault anew.
Instead, he simply staggered away in a haze.
Dar was first to reach the door to the garden. Once the table was shoved aside, he burst through.
"Mrrl! Mrrl!"
Rillick followed close-by, and gasped as he lay eyes on the scene before him. A trail of walker corpses leading from the now broken fountain to the destroyed gate. Mrrl was nowhere to be seen. When Dar approached the fountain, there was a pause as Rillick watched the half-orc's face twist into shock, then anger, and pain. He let out a booming roar.
"NO!"
He crept around the broken pillar to see what Dar saw, and his hand shot up to cover his mouth.
At the base of the fountain was Mrrl's chain. As well as a severed hand, and a leg lying in a pool of blood in the basin.