Chapter 20: Ember
It had taken them only two days to reach Ember, for Nimbrethil had pushed a furious pace. No one complained too much, for they all were just as eager to see what had happened for themselves, even if it meant that they were nearly dropping in exhaustion when they got there. Shandra was the most tired because she wasn't used to this much walking, let alone moving about in plate armor. Yet she hadn't wanted to remove it just in case they ran into trouble along the way. A few weeks ago, she wouldn't have given much thought to it, but being around the elf she had come to realize that trouble had a way of finding them, and she wanted to be prepared. She had seen the girl giving her appraising looks on occasion and merely smiled to let her know everything was fine. The last time had been a few hours ago and Nimbrethil had actually returned her smile. Even though it was a small one, it was still a smile, which was more than she had expected, and she actually began to have hope that she could reach the girl and help her out of the shell she was encased in. Duncan had just better appreciate what she was going through.
Sand too was unused to such excersise and felt if he had to go much further, then he would have to knock Nimbrethil out for a few hours. He was mulling over the various spells he could use when the girl called a halt. They were still in the woods and he hoped that she was calling for a rest so he could catch his breath. When he saw her gaze focused off into the distance, he sighed, figuring that a rest was probably not the reason they stopped.
"Ember lies just beyond the tree line," Nimbrethil told them. "I want everyone to wait here while I check it out."
"Hold on lass, that's foolish," Khelgar protested. "If any of the muckers who attacked Ember are still there..."
"They're not," Nimbrethil cut him off. "I would smell them."
"You can't know for sure," Khelgar spoke up again, only to get a glare from her.
"I am a hunter and I know death when I smell it dwarf," Nimbrethil growled. "The only scent of life I can detect is a very faint presence, and while I'm not sure what it is, I know what it is not." She turned away to look in the direction of Ember again. "Alaine said she believed the attackers were all human, but she wasn't positive. I want to see what tracks are there and see if she was right. If you all go tromping through there then I won't be able to make anything out."
She saw that the others still weren't convinced so she compromised, albeit grudgingly. "Fine, since you don't want to take my word for it, then you may tag along, but stay outside the village until I say otherwise." Then she turned and stalked off, leaving them to scramble after her.
As they followed her, they kept looking around for any sign of enemies but saw and heard nothing. As they neared the village, they suddenly smelled what she had: the stench of corpses rotting in the sun. When she signaled them to wait, they were all too happy to do as she asked, not really eager to see dead bodies lying everwhere. Sand felt his stomach rebelling and quickly pulled out some mint leaves that he had picked up in Nya's shop and handed them out. Everyone took a sprig, grateful for anything that could help mask the smell, as they waited for Nimbrethil to finish her search.
Nimbrethil moved slowly and cautiously, noting the pattern of booted footprints in the grass and dirt, indicating precise, calculated movement of heavily armed men. Interspersed with those prints, were other, more faint prints, obviously belonging to the villagers. As she searched she was able to identify eleven different sets of prints from the attackers, all of them human. One set of prints belonged to someone very big, at least seven feet tall, and weighing about three hundred pounds. This fit with the description given to her by Haeromos of Garius' henchman Lorne. Having discovered this, she began looking closer at some of the bodies and finally found what she was looking for. Wounds inflicted by a specific weapon, a weapon that she was familiar with. It made sense that he would use it, he loved that weapon more than his own mother. Having the confirmation that it was indeed Lorne Starling, she felt her blood begin to boil. He had been a mean bastard before he left West Harbor and now he had become a sadistic one as well. Her father had told her that men like him grew worse over time and he had been right.
Having discovered what she wanted, she turned and headed back towards the others. She was so angry that she felt like punching something. That bastard had tried to make her life hell before he left West Harbor and now he had brought this shit down on her head years later. If she ever saw him again, she promised herself she wouldn't run and hide this time. No, this time she would kill him and let the carrion birds have what was left of him when she was done. Seeing Shandra watching her, she felt she should warn her against going inside.
"Shandra, I know you knew the people here," Nimbrethil cautioned softly. "You will be better off with your memories of what they were like when they were alive."
Shandra hid her surprise at those words. Obviously the elf wanted to spare her the grief of what had happened and she appreciated the gesture. "Thank you, but I have to see it for myself. I still can't believe they are really gone, all of them."
"What did you see in there? You look like you're ready to kill someone," Khelgar eyed her and sucked in his breath as her emerald eyes filled with hate.
"Something I have not seen in years," Nimbrethil hissed at him as she headed for the woods they had just left. "When I find him, he'll wish he had never been born."
Khelgar stared after her as she stalked away towards the trees. "That almost sounded like she knows who did this."
"It certainly did, maybe we should follow her and ask," Sand mused as he too watched her retreating back.
"Not on your life or mine wizard," Bishop sneered. "I strongly recommend that we let her cool off and come back on her own. She's looking to lash out and I don't intend to be the target."
"He's right, we should give her a wide berth right now," Khelgar nodded in agreement. "I've seen how she can be when she gets annoyed and I've never seen her this pissed off before. I don't want to be on the receiving end of it."
Sand sighed and heeding their advice, turned to go look for clues in the village. As he reached the first bodies what he saw was enough to make his blood boil and want to hit something too. There was no doubt in his mind that the village was massacred. The gnome and the druid both took one look and then headed back out, while the ranger merely looked around and commented about the efficiency of the attack. He saw Shandra standing as still as a statue, staring with mouth open in horror, disbelief written all over her face. Khelgar was staring around with a look of outrage on his face, all the while keeping a hand on Shandra's arm as if to lend her support, though Sand suspected it was himself the dwarf needed to support.
As the afternoon waned, Sand managed to find some clues as to the attackers identity and was pretty certain they were from Luskan. This begged the question of what game Torio was playing. Surely she had to know that there was a possibility that they would find evidence to counter the allegations. Then again, maybe she trusted in the attackers abilities to hide or destroy any evidence of Luskan involvement. If so, then she had backed the wrong horse this time and was about to lose her shirt, or perhaps even her head, he thought, smirking a little with glee. While not enough yet, it was a promising start. A voice behind him made him jump.
"So, find anything useful?" Nimbrethil had come back unnoticed by the others.
"Please, do not sneak up on me like that or you will give me a heart attack. How can I help you if I am dead, hmm?" Sand snapped at the girl only to see her smile at him.
"I thought you're hearing was better than that wizard, for I certainly wasn't trying to sneak up on you," Nimbrethil snickered. "You must have found something fascinating to be that distracted."
"As a matter of fact I did," Sand said and proceeded to show her the clues. "Perhaps you would care to share your evidence now." He saw anger darken her face and held his breath hoping she would not blow up at him.
"Not here," she growled. "I'll tell you in camp tonight otherwise I don't think I'll be able to control my temper." She looked around at the carnage. "Besides I have to do that favor for Nya." She started off to sprinkle the wyrmsage, but was stopped when his hand closed on her arm.
"Have you come up with any ideas about what to do with the bodies?" Sand asked.
"A couple," Nimbrethil answered. "We can discuss them in camp tonight as well." Then she moved off to attend to her task.
Sand watched her go thinking that maybe she wasn't as much of a child as he thought. Either that or she was growing up very fast and starting to see the bigger picture here. He wondered what she knew and almost could not wait for camp tonight to find out. Having what he needed and no more mint leaves, he headed back out of the village. As he passed the well though, he stopped because of a sound that came from it and called the others over.
"There is someone hiding in the well," he whispered to them and saw Nimbrethil's eyes narrow a little.
Leaning towards the well she cautiously peeked over only to jump back in surprise at the face that appeared. "It's that boy Marcus, the one we met on our first trip through here."
"That little kid survived?" Khelgar gasped in surprise. He leaned over to look down and saw it was indeed Marcus. "Hold onto the rope lad and we'll pull you up." He waited until he saw the kid had a tight grip and then began pulling. Shandra reached out and helped the boy over the side of the well and looked him over carefully to make sure he was okay.
"Are you injured at all?" Shandra asked him, happy that not everyone had perished. She had seen the boy before, and while he was certainly a strange one, he had seemed harmless.
"I'm okay, just hungry," Marcus answered her then turned to Nimbrethil. "I knew you'd come here so I waited for you. I knew you'd want to know what happened."
Nimbrethil nodded at him and listened as he told her about the huge man disguised as her and what he did. The story merely confirmed what she already knew and she felt her anger creeping up again. Here was another child, victimized by Lorne, just because the man felt he could get away with anything because of his size. She shuddered to think of what might have happened to Marcus if he had been caught. She offered to take him back to Port Last but he declined and said he'd be okay. He told her that he would wait for her there until she was ready to return to Neverwinter for the trial. Once again, she felt a little freaked out that the boy seemed to know things he shouldn't and merely nodded at him as he walked off.
"Obviously the boy has the gift of a seer, he will be our star witness," Sand commented happily as the boy walked away.
"The sun is setting and I think we've found all the evidence we can here," Nimbrethil spoke up. "There's a small stream a couple miles back where we can make camp. Let's get moving." She headed back towards the woods they had left not long ago, the others following after her. She felt incredibly tired all of a sudden and also felt the need to take a bath. The stench of the place seemed to cling to her clothes and her skin. She would show them where to camp and then go hunting for dinner. Hunting always cheered her up and helped her to calm down when she was upset. Hopefully, it would work this night.