XXII: Eye-Witnessed (part two)

They found the 'Alliance Arms Inn' at the very edge of the town, near the road leading away, through Duskwood and further north – to Luskan. Casavir and Khelgar stayed outside, near the entrance, to keep an eye out in case some more of the local soldiers decided to enforce a mob law. Grobnar, for reasons, as always, known only to him, joined them, muttering something under his breath, at times raising his voice to address Khelgar – much to the displeasure of the dwarf. The others entered.

The day was still young, so the establishment appeared nearly empty. Yet, despite the low number of patrons, the only real acknowledgement their manifold heavily-packed band got was from a young dark-haired woman, who occupied one of the armchairs in front of the lit fire. Adele couldn't help but stiffen when their eyes met, wondering if the woman was aware of who she was, if the hat would fool her – but the stranger's gaze didn't linger on her, idly slipping over the rest of her companions and instead locked on to Elanee, filled with mild surprise.

Whew… - Adele felt a smile come to her lips, and, unable to hold it back, at least did her best to keep it only a slight smirk. – Thank the gods for elven druids in tattered robes that look more startling than girls in stupid hats.

The hat was a bother. It took Adele about several seconds to develop strong dislike for it. Not only she didn't enjoy the feeling of her head being encircled, but the damned thing also cut off the upper half of her field of vision. She hadn't even known she needed the view that much, until was deprived of it, only then realizing how much uncomfortable she was without fully asserting her surroundings – in her quandary, a possible battleground. Casavir, Khelgar and other armour-clad warriors could allow themselves a luxury of relying on pure strength, but she preferred to be aware of every tiny bit of the interior that might come in handy. After all, a ceiling beam within jumping reach was a good way of escaping a hit.

Her thoughts were shattered by burst of voices coming from the counter, and she only briefly noticed the woman in the armchair throw an annoyed glance over her shoulder in the same direction, before staring herself. There, surrounded by other patrons, sat a red-faced bearded man, relating a story of his in a very loud tone, accompanied by wild gestures.

"Something tells me we've found Elgun," Sand nodded at him. "We'd better listen - though, I admit, I do feel sorry for my ears."

Adele eyed the braggart, his face swollen and sweaty from all the drinking and boasting, and felt her desire of having anything to do with him fade away as easily as morning mist - together with the idea of pouring something 'warming' into herself.

That's how people should raise children into decent persons: enough to say that if you lie and drink too much, you'll end up being like him.

"Not sure I want to listen to his version of what happened," she muttered. "It'll surely make me loose any marbles I have left. I'd better go and have a word with the owner. You, guys, suit yourself."

Leaving her companions near the counter, the woman strolled along the room, looking around from under the brims of her hat, until she spotted her target behind the table near the far wall. The innkeeper appeared to be a tall sturdy man, grim-looking – or plainly sleepy - with large nose and tired eyes, which flickered despite their weariness as the woman came up to him.

"Good day," Adele smiled.

He smiled in return quite easily: "Welcome there, miss. What can I do for you? We've got plenty of spare rooms and-"

"Um, no, thank you."

"Shame," he sighed. "The sight of you would have made a nice change from drunken sailors".

Her smile grew more sincere at the artless compliment. "My companions and I are here from Neverwinter. We're investigating murders in Ember."

The owner nodded dolefully, his face turning grave once again. "I see… Spoke to Haeromus already?"

"The first thing", she reached for her belt-pouch, fishing out a golden coin, and flashed it to him briefly before dropping on the table. "Have you heard anything that might help?"

He shook his head. "Only the rumors, miss – they are not worth that much."

"Yet still."

"Well, let's think," he elbowed on the table, rolling the coin over its splintered wooden surface, then swept the gold into his pocket. "The folk say it could have been some beasts from Duskwood responsible. To tell the truth, that's what I'm inclined to believe the most – after all, gods know what lives there. A couple of years ago even had werewolves there," Adele nodded, asserting his words, but not stopping from further guesses. At least, it was refreshing to meet a soul who was more inclined to blame mindless beasts of the deed than ponder on how capable were humans of the same. "Then there was a very sneaky woman from Luskan, sniffing around. She said it was some adventuring party that had killed everyone – for nothing, you know, just to giggle," he flinched, clearly disdainful towards such an assumption.

"Did she," Adele muttered coldly. A fast walker, aren't you, Torio?

"Ah, drop it, miss," the innkeeper shook his head. "Nothing but lies comes from Luskan if you ask me. I wouldn't even be surprised to find out their patrols were the ones who had done it. Yes, exactly only to giggle," he sighed heavily, then suddenly made a very expressive gesture towards the counter. "And, of course, Elgun saw everything. In addition to all the dragons he slew in his life. Six, at the very least. Don't mind him, miss," he added as they exchanged understanding glances. "He can barely handle a sword, let alone use it against anybody," he thought a bit, then shrugged. "Apart from that, I'm afraid, there's nothing I can help you with."

Nodding absently, Adele looked around once more, until her gaze rested on the dark-haired woman again. She had gone back to watching the fire, her face detached and thoughtful, as if, in her mind, she tried hard to abstract herself from the surroundings. But it wasn't her face that drew Adele's attention – more her utterly practical gear, her shabby leathers of faded brown and soiled boots that had clearly seen many roads not so long ago. She wasn't wearing a cloak and had no pack on her, but Adele was ready to bet that all of those could be found in one of the rooms upstairs. Probably together with some weapons as well as camping and hunting equipment.

"Who is this ranger?" she asked the owner.

"Oh, it's Malin. Comes to Port Llast every now and then. Mostly sticks to Duskwood, along the Luskan border. Actually, she may tell you something useful – she returned only couple of days before."

"Yes, just what I thought," Adele nodded him at parting. "Thank you again."

"No troubles, miss. Do what I can."

Gracing him with a final smile, she came up to the fireplace. Hearing approaching footsteps, the woman called Malin lifted her head, regarding Adele with an attentive, almost guarded gaze of coal-dark eyes. Her face, slightly weathered by constant being out in the open air, was still quite nice-looking – though its comeliness was a bit marred by the too firm line of her lips pursed tightly. And only now, coming this close to her, Adele noticed that her ears, bared by her long hair plaited into a loose braid, were slightly pointed, and her features bore a telltale fox-like refinement – much like that Adele observed in the mirror.

My, - she thought with unexpectedly lightened amusement, - so you were not the only human to look for elven treats, Mom…

"…Yes?" Malin wondered slowly, and Adele blinked, realizing she's been staring mutely at the woman for several moments already.

"Well met," she answered a bit awkwardly.

"…Well enough, I suppose," the half-elf – the second one apart from Duncan she had ever met in her life - moved one of her shoulders in a shrug, then eyed Adele from head to toes. "You are no local."

"From Neverwinter."

Her brows furred as her gaze rested on the woman's cloak. "City Watch? Haven't been in Neverwinter for several months – what have I done?"

"Nothing, I hope. I'm investigating what happened in Ember."

"Ah," Malin sniffed without any humour. "What's there to investigate? The village is destroyed, everyone's killed - by beasts or brigands or gods know what else... No investigation would bring them back to life," she stared back at Adele. "But then… Heard rumors it was one of you, people, that got accused of the deed."

Oh, niiiiiiiiice…

"Yes, there are such rumors," Adele nodded evasively. "All the more reasons to right the wrongs."

"…Right. Wonder if you would even bothered if it wasn't one of your ranks in hot water," the ranger smirked, but Adele decided not to answer. At least, aloud. Probably not, honey… probably not. "Wait… I'm not a suspect, am I?"

"Was just wondering if you happened to come across something."

"No, why would I. Was deep in the woods when it happened," she fell silent, looking into space, then frowned slightly. "…Though when I was passing, in the south-east, at the foot of hills – I spied a column of smoke rising from the ridge. Could have been from a campfire – there's a cave up there, just above the Grove. Maybe they saw something. Who knows, it's only an hour's walk from Ember," she winced and rubbed her thigh.

"…Something wrong?"

"No, just was hunting, and a dire hog caught me with his tusk, that appeared harder than my bone. It's why I'm here at all – patching up," Malin sighed with obvious displeasure at her predicament, but shrugged it off. "Anyway, check that cave if you want to. Though, if they were some travellers, they had probably left already. And if someone lives there…" another dry dismissive sniff that sounded strangely familiar, "then they are crazy and won't be of use, I guess."

"We'll see," Adele concluded absently, peering into Malin's face, a bit unsettled by the dim familiarity in the ranger's cutting demeanor, then shook her head. "…I'm sorry, have we met?"

It was a useless question – she would have surely remembered another half-elf.

Malin regarded her with a long scrutinizing gaze, part of previous suspicion flowing back into it, then shrugged: "If we had, you wouldn't have asked, I suppose. Why?"

"…Nothing," she cleared her throat, "Well, thanks for the help."

"Anytime, watchman. I would have led you to the cave, but…" she waved at her damaged leg, "not in the nearest tenday, that's for sure."

"It's not necessary, really…"

"Yeah?" she chuckled, somehow sadly. "I'm stuck in here for several days already with the injure – trust me, for me getting out is necessary," Adele smiled sympathetically, when Malin frowned, glaring shortly at Elgun, who gave way to a particularly noisy exclamation. "By the gods, will anyone shut the fool up already? It must be the fifth time by now he's telling how he fought demons in Ember."

"Demons?" Adele echoed with a chuckle, earning a wry smirk in response:

"Yes. Just another day for him, isn't it?"

"That's just ridiculous."

"You tell him."

"But-"

Someone's fingers flicked the brim of her hat from below, almost making it fall off her head, and Adele gave a start, barely managing to catch it.

"Nice hat, princess," Bishop sneered, coming around from behind her, and leaned on the back of Malin's chair with his elbow, not bothering to notice the chair was occupied. She couldn't help but to observe that the flaring irritation had left him somewhere along his scouting trip, cooling down to caustic indifference.

Should kick him out scouting more frequently, it does him good.

Seeing that he was ready to make further comments about her head-dress, Adele just smiled coldly: "Don't even bother, I hate it myself."

His eyes slid over her face, searching for something, until met hers again. "Why, then?" that had to be the most acrid compassionate tone Adele had ever heard. "Put up with something you hate."

Speaking of yourself, ranger?

"…Saw anything?" she asked instead patiently.

"That you left the paladin outside," he smirked. "Good, that's the very place for a dog."

"…Anything useful?"

"No, nothing to entertain Your Highness with at the moment," he answered in his usual lazy drawl. "Just that the way through Duskwood might be harder than you expected."

"Why?" she frowned, any tease draining from her voice.

"The deer are gone. Quite a few herds moved to the north recently, judging from the tracks. Something drove them away, something that is still there," he watched her as the grim thought sank in, then shrugged. "So if you suddenly came to care for your well-being, I'd say we take a roundabout way."

"We don't have time," she muttered. He quirked an eyebrow questioningly, but she bit her tongue in time not to spill something unsuitable for outsider's ears. Though Malin seemed to lose interest in her, staring hard (too hard?) into the fire, Adele still didn't want to tempt misfortune. "…There… appeared to be a witness, who saw the attackers and… well… described them rather thoroughly. So the less time we waste here, the better."

"A witness?" he tilted his head, grating 'not-really-smiling' look entering his eyes. "You had left a witness? Really sloppy."

For a brief moment, but she considered breaking his face. Hammering that smirk of his into the back of his scull. In everyone's view, to make him stumble back, blood spewing out of his nose and mouth, his lips split against his teeth… Considered in honest. Because here she was, looking for a way to slither her way out of the trap she had gotten to – and there was he. Enjoying himself.

And what was even worse, his mocking gaze showed that he knew perfectly well about her considering.

"Come now, princess," he murmured, "if you had destroyed Ember, I won't blame you. Could have told about your plans before – I might have even helped. Maybe even for free."

"…I'm really in no mood for such jokes, Bishop," her tone was a flat slab of ice.

"Well, it was only a half-joke…"

Adele gave an abrupt nod towards the woman in the chair, who was in perfect earshot to catch their conversation, and glared back at Bishop, her eyes screaming for him to keep silent. He followed her movement, his uninterested gaze falling on the half-elven ranger… but suddenly paused. Malin was still looking into the flames, though more at them than into, her eyes skidding frantically over the logs and embers, her one hand lying on the arm of chair, fingers gripping the wood, knuckles nearly white from the force of the squeeze…

And just like that, even before Bishop's eyes narrowed in amused recognition, Adele realized why Malin's attitude and behaviour struck her as familiar – it was a faint echo of Bishop himself.

"Now, now, look whom I found," Bishop's lips curved into a thin crooked smile, spiteful and dry, and the woman in the chair closed her eyes in silent defeat at being noticed. "Malin. Don't tell me you are still playing girl-of-the-wood."

"Bishop," she muttered – nearly cursed – shooting him a short grim look, then mirrored his parody of a smile, though obviously with more strain. "And here I wondered if you'd ever drag your sorry carcass back here."

"You waited for me? I'm touched," he cocked his head to the shoulder. "Then again, what else was there for you to do? It's not like you could have tracked me down if you wanted to."

"But could have tracked myself far away if I knew you were coming."

"Suit yourself, the door is opened – it's at the west wall," he winced mockingly. "Damn, my bad, you don't know where west is."

Adele cast her eyes between them. Suddenly the prospect of listening to Elgun's raving appeared much less horrible. She wasn't sure whether she should remind them of her presence, then finally decided it was a good way to break the rangers up before… well, something happened. "So, you two…" she shrugged, coming up with the most idiotic question, "…know each other?"

Of course they did. Knew each other long enough to pick up those tiny sketches of the other's personality and unwittingly copy them as their own. At least, the girl did.

"…You could say so," Malin answered sullenly, looking back at the fire. Bishop only smirked, still standing behind her armchair and staring fixedly at the back of her head. And something in Malin's face told that she was well aware of his stare.

Adele licked her lips, then shrugged again. "And… how do you know each other?"

Second prize in the contest for the most stupid question.

Bishop's deep rumbling chuckle, sounding strikingly similar to a grumble of a huge satisfied animal, actually told the whole tale without a single word. "This should be rich…" the ranger murmured. "Come on, Malin, you start."

"No way," the woman grated through clenched teeth and glanced at Adele, nodding towards him, "while it is somewhere ten leagues around. The smell alone is enough to make me sick."

He leaned forwards, folding his arms on the back of her chair, watching her profile, and purred almost into her ear: "Oh is it now?"

Malin shrank away from him without uttering a sound, which only sharpened his smirk. Not changing his pose, he turned his head, looking at Adele:

"There you have it, princess. A ranger that can't find her way north along the Sword Coast with a map, drawn pointing arrows and a guide. And – yeah," he chuckled again, this time differently, almost maliciously, returning his attention fully to Malin, "nearly forgot her main accomplishments." The woman closed her eyes, but Bishop, paying no heed to it, hissed: "She nearly got me – and herself – killed several times over while scouting the Luskan border. Still makes me wonder if I wanted someone to keep me warm that much."

"Yeah, I got the gist, thank you," Adele cut in before he went on, and smiled. "Must be Tymora's kiss that we've got you, huh?"

"You have no idea," he drawled, unperturbed. "You see, impatience, incompetence... such things get scouts killed," his gaze was still fastened on Malin, who did her best to ignore him. Bishop smirked darkly. "That's how sad it is when you're not fully an elf... and not fully a human. It's like you've always got something to prove, eh?"

"For the record, Bishop," Adele muttered, "another half-elf is standing just beside you."

"Yeah," he glanced at her, "I know."

...And that was a knock-down, dearest sirs and ladies, - her inner voice cooed in admiration. – Oh, he's good.

Some distant part of her actually wanted to look at Malin, to see her reaction to that double-punch – but Adele discovered that she couldn't tear her eyes from Bishop's. The ranger watched her in return with the same adamant insolence, as if daring her to argue or finally carry out silent threat of planting a fist into his face. Because both ways would have been exactly a sort of 'proving' he implied.

It was almost mesmerizing, how her every exchange with him turned into a leaping from one small island to the other over the abyss – one wrong step, and the ranger would surely have a good laugh watching her long fall. Maybe even spit after.

"…You… are… something," she admitted finally, not without satisfaction noticing surprise in his stare – for just a heartbeat before it was gone, sunk in amber depths without a trace – and bowed her head. "Here I couldn't figure out what my problem was. You just hit the nail on the head. Don't know what I would've done without you, really."

"Been dead?" he prompted.

"Ah, have some pity for me, will you? I've already had enough of harsh truths for one day."

She knew what he would answer, knew by the derisive golden flecks in his eyes, even before the words left his mouth. "As you wish, my lady," he murmured huskily, and her smile faded as his gaze unhurriedly trickled down her face, line of her jaw, taking in her neck, stopping briefly to follow the slightly noticeable tightness in it as she swallowed, hoping to wet her suddenly dry throat…

"What's the matter, Bishop?" Malin's sarcastic voice grinded between them, breaking the spell, and Adele almost jumped when all the sounds of the tavern flooded back into her ears, that seemed to had grown deaf to anything apart from Bishop's voice a moment before. Malin herself was still staring into the fire, but hadn't missed the silence. "You've got yourself a mistress? I thought no woman had the right to shut you up," she moved her shoulder in a falsely indifferent shrug. "Then again, perhaps, you were lying about that, too."

His smirk not faltering, the ranger leaned back to her: "Or, perhaps, you just never had the guts to, eh?"

Malin sniffed - hardly a fitting answer - and Bishop straightened himself up, his scoffing mask dissipating, leaving nothing but disdain, pure and simple, with which he turned away and stalked to the bar, without sparing another glance at the half-elven ranger. Adele caught herself following him with her eyes and shook her head, heaving a sigh:

"Tymora's kiss, indeed," she grumbled. "Right in the ass." Malin snorted dryly, and Adele looked at her hopefully, "You sure your leg is that bad? One of my companions is quite apt in nature's healing, you know, especially if it ends up in leaving him behind…"

"He's good," the ranger suddenly said, her tone honest, even if not particularly warm. "Perhaps one of the best on the Coast, I'll give him that. Just…" she pursed her lips, obviously not sure what or how she wanted to say, then glanced at Adele's cloak once more and averted her gaze. "Never mind. Be careful if you go to the Grove."

Adele watched her for a moment, but the ranger didn't add anything else, so the woman reluctantly made her way towards others. Her companions managed to slip themselves in the crowd of Elgun's listeners, apart from Bishop, who was already nursing a tankard at the counter, not really away from the rest, but putting enough distance between himself and the patrons not to be with them either.

"I was wrong," Qara observed as she noticed Adele beside her and nodded at Elgun. "This is the story worthy of Grobnar's making."

"That bad, huh?"

"Yes," Sand drawled, perhaps for the first time not arguing with Qara. "The man is clearly a fool. But it is his audience that truly concerns me."

"Why?" Adele ran suspicious glance over the patrons. Usual tavern clientele to her.

"Because they are listening."

"…I would have taken them all out," the drunkard meanwhile went on with his epos, "but one sneaked behind my back and gave me such a blow with those claws of his that knocked me out! But falling, I still managed to put a blade under his scales!"

"But not a scratch on him," Neeshka pointed out with a snicker, quietly, trying to stay away and not attract attention. Wise, since the story was about demons. "Honestly, all this blether reminds of Khelgar and his endless glorious brawls. But at least Stumpy's all scarred and bruised, so it's kinda believable in his case."

Elanee not far from her gave a bleak joyless smile. "It is moments like this I realize that humans are beyond my understanding, no matter how much time I've spent observing them."

"There's nothing to understand here," the tiefling snorted. "Cheap fame and free booze, those are all the motives."

"Yes, that is the thing that baffles me. It would have been very funny if only it wasn't actually this sad."

"Sir," Sand suddenly raised voice, addressing Elgun. "Have you by chance seen the one who led the attack?"

Elgun spluttered for a second, a bit muddled by the elf's totally practical tone, but collected himself and shook his head sorrowfully:

"Didn't have time to make out. Otherwise would have killed him the first, I swear!"

"Well, Elgun," some of the listeners put in, "at least you tried."

"Yeah. If only I could…" he sighed.

"Swine," Shandra whispered, her eyes alight with barely contained anger.

"You see," Sand continued in the same even voice, "we've spoke to the survivor of the battle…"

"There's a survivor?" the drunkard blinked, and his face became even redder. "Well... ehm... that's... that's good news! Though I wish I could have saved others."

"Yes, yes, no doubt," Sand nodded. "But the case is that the poor girl saw the massacre with her eyes – and she noticed not a single demon there, which is by all means strange and inexplicable."

"What? No, no way! There were demons! She must have got confused, with all the smoke and fire, poor soul…"

"Of course," the elf muttered under his breath and flinched, as if he was trying to grab something greasy with his bare hands.

"And what were you even doing near Ember?" Shandra demanded. "The murderers are not found yet, you know."

Elgun's eyes nearly popped out: "How can you think of me that way, girl? I was in Duskwood when I saw the flames! Of course I rushed there, even put aside that deer I've been tracking for days…"

Bishop, who was much more interested in his ale up to that time, gave a contemptuous snort: "There is no deer in Duskwood."

"Wh…?" Elgun stumbled in his words. "What do you mean?"

"What I said."

"No, I…" he couldn't miss how some of his listeners started to throw doubtful glances between him and the ranger, who seemed to be a better authority in the case. But Elgun was sufficiently drunk and full of himself to be stubbornly persistent. "There's plenty!'

"No."

"Well, I don't know how there isn't any, if I tracked one down."

"Yeah, I'm curious, too, how you tracked one down if there isn't any."

"I… you think what you want, lad, but…"

Adele didn't feel Bishop passing her. He never pushed anyone, not even moved a single person aside, but somehow was already standing right in front of Elgun, slipped through the crowd like a white-hot blade through a lump of butter. His narrowed eyes were fastened firmly on Elgun, and something in his stare made other patrons step away, forming yawning emptiness around the two men.

"Here's my offer," Bishop's voice was quiet, sounding more like a rustle, that rustle with which one draws a sword out of the scabbard. Adele felt goose bumps rise on her skin, making tiny hair on her arms and the back of her neck stand on end. "Why don't you take me to the place where you've seen that deer."

"You… ah… want to see the place?"

"Sure," the ranger sneered wolfishly and gave Elgun's chest a slight thump with his mug, the gesture not even nearly as friendly as it would have been in any other circumstances. "It's to die for."

All the previous listeners seemed to have been blown away, spreading about the corners, leaving only their band around the braggart. He regarded all of them in turn nervously and gave a quiet half-strangled laugh:

"Well… alright, guys, you clearly know I wasn't there. What do you want from me?"

"For you to keep shut," Shandra cut off. "And think at least a little when you open that mouth of yours!"

"I get treated with free drinks for such stories. What, you grudge a mug of beer?"

"It's for you we are worrying, good sir," Sand added insinuatingly. "As our dear friend already mentioned, the murderers are still loose. And if they are to find out you call yourself a witness…" the elf finished with a significant shrug.

Elgun blanched: "I… I haven't thought of it…"

"Go ahead, think," Bishop made a deliberately slow sip from his tankards, still standing uncomfortably close to Elgun and keeping his eyes on him. "I'm in no hurry."

Adele reached out, placing her palm on his forearm, silently asking to stop before the whole affair went too threatening. The ranger didn't look at her, but made a step back, and Elgun, as if recovered from hypnosis, looked around in confusion, turning back to his former listeners, who watched the exchange from the distance.

Noticing them, he cleared his throat and threw his hands up: "Um… everyone, I have an announcement! What I've told you is all not true! Like, you, know, a fairy-tale! But it was interesting after all, wasn't it?"

None of their company stayed to listen, without any command or agreement moving away towards the exit, nearly all faces bearing variable degrees of loathing. Adele halted for a moment, skimming over the tavern one last time to make sure they hadn't missed anything, when caught sight of Malin. The half-elf was following their group with a careful, though unreadable gaze. Not quite able to keep back a frown, Adele quickened her step, catching up with Bishop, and asked quietly:

"What exactly happened between you two?"

"Me and whom?" Bishop wondered without any interest whatsoever, casting her a fleeting sidelong glance.

"Malin."

He tilted his head to the shoulder, watching her from under half-hooded lids, until slowly and meaningfully smirked.

Probably, no one else in the world could smirk so meaningfully.

"Why the sudden interest?" he wondered lowly.

"Uh-huh… Madly jealous."

"Don't be, sweetheart," he slowed his pace a little to go in step with her, wrapping his arm around her waist, softly, innocuously – but Adele felt his thumb slip under her sheath-belt, tracing its inner side. Ouch. Went too far this time? "Just ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no tales."

"But I like tales," she cooed, but dropped it quickly. "Come on, just curious. Seeing how you two nearly bit each other's heads off."

"Well then, do forgive me, Your Highness," he answered snidely, drawling every word that made each one of them sound like an insult, "if I don't engage in idle talks about my past. Not my style."

Adele rolled her eyes: "Now there's a tragedy."

She slipped out of his easy embrace, outstripping him to be the first to leave the tavern - and ignoring his barely audible chuckle behind her back. Seeing Neeshka already re-telling the short version of what happened inside to Khelgar, Casavir and Grobnar, Adele just skipped down the stairs to them. "Any troubles?"

"No, none," Casavir assured her, his glance regarding all of them quickly, but thoroughly, making sure that no one was harmed. "Any success, if I may ask in return?"

"Yeah, better than was, at least."

Khelgar nodded at the doors: "Sure ya don't wanna me to go and punch the liar for good measure?"

"Please, no," she chuckled. "That way he'll get a face-sized bruise and a broken nose, so more people would come to believe in his heroic doings."

"But ya won't tell much without teeth, y'know."

"Well, actually," Grobnar interfered, "producing coherent sounds has little to do with teeth, it's more about vocal cords, those tiny muscle formations in the throat that-"

"Applies to ya too, Grobby."

"…Ah. I see," the gnome beamed and ran a finger across his lips, sealing them.

"Then I believe we are bound for Ember now?" Casavir concluded.

"Yeah." Adele nodded. "Considering there's something to look for in Duskwood itself."

"We are not staying for the night?" Qara gaped at her.

"Frankly, I have no desire of staying in the town where half of the population wants my head on a stick."

"Like they can do something about it."

"Well, with my luck…" Adele shrugged. "Besides, there's lots of time before dusk, we can make a good way still."

Qara huffed, but moved her shoulder in condescending agreement. "Fine. Wonderful. Have a tavern at our hand, but will go and sleep again under some bush or in the hole in the ground. What more can a girl ask for?"

"A gag?" Sand suggested at the sky.

"For you? Asked several times, never came."

"Gods know better."

"And don't even start," Adele rounded, then turned her head a bit, not looking over her shoulder at the ranger, but enough to make him get that she was addressing him. "Malin said there is some cave in the mountains in Duskwood, an hour's walk from Ember."

"There is," Bishop asserted after a second of reflection. "Even several."

"We'd better check them out. It seems someone made camp there."

"Above the Grove?" he gave a quiet whistle. "Lunatic."

Adele shrugged again, already making her way down the street. "Either way, worth some checking. Whoever they are, they could have seen or heard something."

"Like what?"

"Like… anything," she turned on her heels, proceeding with her back forward, and looked at her companions. "I'll settle for any coherent version of what happened there."

"And if there is a lunatic camping out there," Neeshka grinned, "we can always send Grobnar to speak to him. Might come to an agreement."

"Me?" the gnome lifted his head, regarding the tiefling quizzically. "Why? Oh, no-no, of course, I'm always ready to give a try, but I'm with miss Adele on this for now – without knowing the whole picture, everything that happened seems a bit to fuzzy for me for the moment," Neeshka frowned, apparently taken aback by his sudden adequacy. Grobnar grinned. "Or maybe it's just me. Anyway, point me that cave and nothing inside will escape Grobnar Gnomehands!"

"Scary notion, to think of it," Adele snickered, starting to turn back to face the road, when she was stopped dead by two female voiced shouting:

"Careful!"

She froze, discovering that she nearly crashed into one of the merchant tents, the one heaped up with herbs of every sort and kind, tufts and bunches of dried up flowers and bags of unknown powders.

"Oops," Adele muttered, taking a step back, and glared shortly at Elanee, who was one of the two shouting. "Gentler next time, okay? I nearly chocked my heart out."

The druidess gave her an elegant apologetic shrug: "I'm sorry."

"I never even knew you can scream."

"Oh, I can," the elf smiled.

Another woman – the merchant - appeared to be an elf, too, small and slim, with raven-black hair cut short in nearly men's fashion. Making sure her friable assortment was left intact, she flashed them a relieved grin.

"Sorry," Adele nodded her.

"No, it's my fault," the herbalist waved her off. "Always keep telling myself 'Nya, you should sort everything out, you should tidy it all up…' After all, working place should be kept in order."

"That's right," Grobnar nodded. "Not that I ever followed that rule, but the idea itself always seemed very sound."

Sand, who was studying the range of goods, lifted an eyebrow at Nya: "Is there any particular reason for such an overwhelming quantity of wyrmsage?"

Qara, probably sensing one of 'wizard-like' discussions, groaned in frustration: "Any particular reason to ask?"

"It is used as a reagent in many different amalgams."

"So what?"

"Above everything, can be used as an accessory substance in dealing with the undead," the wizard looked meaningfully at Adele, and the woman felt her insides give an unpleasant jolt. No… Not another Shadow Priest, not to this pile.

"So what?" the sorceress obviously wasn't going to give up.

"Nothing," Sand stared at her. "Just to know. Everything is good to know, Qara."

"Port Llast has an undead problem?" Casavir asked Nya solemnly, getting the message as well as Adele. His face was firm, much like the one he had in underground cave in Old Owl Well.

"No, it's… it's Ember," the herbalist shook her head. "Just to imagine how many bodies are there right now, untended and unburied… Luskans do not care about such things. So I plan on going there and make sure everything is alright."

"What makes you suspect otherwise?" Adele wondered.

"Oh, it's nothing, probably. My former… acquaintance was of clerics of Kelemvor, so he used to tell me a lot about undeath and all concerned," Nya switched her attention to her herbs, arranging them absentmindedly. "He said that when someone dies such a brutal death, there is a possibility they can come back as undead or ghost. But he's gone and… I guess, that leaves only me to take care of such things… Just can't find time to attend to it."

"We're going to Ember. If you want, we can…" Adele waved her hand over the bags, "…don't really know what to do, though."

"Oh, it's easy, really," Nya assured her, her face lighting up with a relieved smile. "Just sprinkle the wyrmsage over the bodies, it'll trap the soul inside. Once trapped, its possible negative energies should be suppressed, and it'll be free to pass beyond this world."

"…Huh?"

Sand cleared his throat: "An… overly dramatic description… and assumption… of the properties of souls, but she is right – the wyrmsage will serve to fight the simplest of necromantic arts."

"Are you truly willing to do it?" Nya asked, running her hopeful gaze over all of them.

"No," Bishop drawled. "Like we have nothing else to do but to mess around with half-rotten dead," he looked at Adele gibingly. "But no one asks us, right?"

"No one asks you," Shandra hissed.

"Damn, again I insulted corpses of Ember."

"Bishop," Casavir growled.

"I'll do it for sure, don't worry," Adele told Nya, not paying attention to yet another argument.

"Thank you," the elf smiled, tying up the laces of the linen bag, then passed it to the woman. "I… thank you, really."

"Not at all."

She put the bag with wyrmsage into her pack, and the company took a turn away from the town, towards the first trees of Duskwood, sketched in the mist ahead. Adele noticed Karnwyr waiting there, but the wolf ignored everyone apart from his master, who called him to his side with scarcely a nod of his head.

"So what, it's all true?" Neeshka asked somewhere behind Adele's back. "About the undead, I mean. And some dried ground grass actually helps?"

"At least, won't harm," Sand answered pragmatically. "May serve as prophylaxis."

"…Pro-what?"

"Prophylaxis. Preventive measures. Cumulative actions to stave off something," Neeshka's look remained questioning, and the wizard sighed. "When you are doing something beforehand, knowing that later it won't allow something bad to happen."

"…Oh. Oh, now I get it," the tiefling nodded with a grin. "Neat word, need to remember it. Five golds worth at the very least."

"You know, miss Neeshka," Grobnar muttered, "it is a very interesting approach, to value words in coins! Indeed, such thought never even crossed my mind. Well, perhaps, it crossed, but didn't stay. No, really, it's an intriguing allegory! Some words are weighed in coppers, some – in silver, some – even in gold! Perhaps even in gems! My, wonderful!" he beamed at Bishop who happened to come along with him.

The ranger snorted: "Relax, gnome. Everything is weighed in copper, silver or gold."

"But there are so many things, which are totally intangible, but so valuable nonetheless. Like dreams or beauty or hope or sunlight or-"

"You can have all of those for free, I'll even pay you in excess."

"Bishop, are you that jaded to speak such things or just that bored?" Elanee sighed.

He flinched: "Yeah, and all the pretty meadows and flowers are for you, druidess."

"Think he's up to selling off the whole world," Neeshka snorted.

"As long as you pay," the ranger shrugged. "By the way, oh fearless selfless and many other 'less' leader – that herbalist is actually going to compensate the trouble, I hope."

"I'm the one carrying the bag," Adele threw over her shoulder. "And we are going to Ember anyway. No additional strain for you."

"Needn't have told her about it. I don't think she would have actually gone there on her own."

"Nah, she would have. To put them to rest, to pay the debt to her former lover, whatever," noticing others give her puzzled glances, Adele arched her brow. "What, I was the only one who saw her eyes when she was speaking of him?"

"So we are doing it because one girl felt bad for the other," Bishop concluded. "Nice."

Elanee regarded him with a cool glance: "Maybe you better take note on how to pay attention to others?"

"And will I get a thrilled half-naked druidess of my own in that case?"

"Bishop," Casavir pulled him up, but the ranger only smirked:

"Yeah, you're right, not the most terrible fate. You, too, noticed that she doesn't wear anything under those robes, eh?"

The paladin gritted his teeth: "Keep your eyes on the road, ranger, as is your duty."

"Right. You heard the paladin, druidess – so shove off and don't distract me."

Adele rolled her eyes helplessly. Qara, walking by her side, shrugged:

"Want me to torch them?"