Chapter 46: Lover's Spat
"I don't suppose you left any for us to deal with," Vale commented as he looked around the main hall.
Nimbrethil suppressed a snort and ignored him. They had gone through the door and surpised the Luskans scattered around. It had been fairly quick work to eliminate them and get to the mages, thereby enabling Vale and his crew to enter.
"Now why would we go and do a fool thing like that!" Khelgar guffawed and saw Bishop smirk at the comment. He may not like the man very much, but the guy seemed to be making Nim happy, and he was certainly more palatable company in battle than many others they had met. Therefore, he figured he could cut the ranger some slack, at least for the time being.
Vale felt his face heat with anger but kept a tight rein on his emotions. Like it or not, he had to rely on this motley group of misfits to accomplish his task, but he really couldn't wait to be quit of the whole lot of them. He saw their little leader staring intently at a door on the far side of the hall, and was just about to walk over to her when a wave of nausea hit him hard, causing him to stumble slightly. Looking around he saw that Sand and the other magic users also looked ill.
NImbrethil felt the hair on the nape of her neck stand on end and tightened her grip on her weapons. "Sand, what was that?" she asked sharply.
"I believe that Garius has begun his dark ritual and if we do not move quickly enough we will be too late to stop it," the wizard said wryly.
"And how exactly do you suggest we do that?" Vale asked, unable to keep a slight note of trepidation out of his voice.
"By running a blade across his throat and watching him choke on his own blood," Nimbrethil stated with a slight smile. "Pretty hard for any mage to finish a ritual if they can't speak." She saw Vale pale a little at her words and her eyes narrowed. "If you're scared then stay here and watch the door. I don't want any cowards at my back," she finished with a sneer.
Bishop had to turn away quickly so the others wouldn't see the big grin on his face. His woman certainly had a way with words that amused him to no end. Talk about being blunt and to the point. He peeked at the paladin out of the corner of his eye and saw the aghast expression on the man's face, and had to quickly cough to cover the laughter that threatened to overwhelm him. He saw Nim look at him quickly, a warning in her eyes, but with a slight smile on her lips.
"I strongly suggest using caution in this situation," Vale retorted, ignoring the girl's last statement. "A dark ritual like this is not to be taken lightly and Garius will most likely have his most powerful henchman surrounding him. You will have to fight your way to him and for that you will need all the help you can get."
Nimrethil flashed a feral smile at Vale and then headed for the closed door. Opening it she saw a long hall at the end of which torches were glimmering. She could just make out shadows shifting around and tightened her grip on her weapons. She could feel Bishop right behind and then heard the clank of armor as Khelgar followed. Knowing that whoever was waiting for them would hear them coming she decided to throw caution to the wind and charged forward, her feet making almost no sound on the stone floor.
Bishop bit back a snarl and hurried after her, knowing that she would need someone to watch her back. Sometimes Nim did insane things like this without any explanation, and he had to wonder if maybe she had a death wish, or if there was a method to her apparent madness. He heard the others behind him gasp and then hurrying to catch up, as surprised as he was by the girl's actions.
Shandra ran as fast as she could to catch up to Nim, the heavier armor she wore not making it easy. What was the elf thinking rushing headlong into battle like this? Shandra knew that if Garius was there the girl could end up dead before the battle had even begun. Cursing silently under her breath, she rounded the corner at the end of the hall and had to swing her shield in front of her to block a blow from a big man in heavy armor. She had no time to look around for Nim, her opponent giving her all she could handle.
Nimbrethil had quickly scanned the area as she charged a particularly nasty looking female mage, but she could see no sign of Garius or any of his cronies. Whoever this group was, they were not her main target. Snarling she blocked a thrust from her left with her short sword and managed to catch the mage in front of her with a swipe across the neck with her other blade. The woman went down, her last spell dying on her lips as blood gurgled from her throat. She could here the others crying out and the sound of spells hitting walls and bodies, mass confusion everywhere for some minutes. However, their numbers were greater than their enemies and the battle was soon over. Pausing to catch her breath, she looked around and saw Shandra stomping towards her, a furious expression on her face.
"Just what in the nine hells did you think you were doing charging in like that?!" Shandra shouted angrily. "Do you have a death wish? You could have been killed before any of us even caught up with you!"
"Well sweetheart, I'd like to know the answer to that as well," Bishop growled as he came to stand in front of the girl.
Nimbrethil saw the anger in his eyes and coolly regarded him for a moment. "What's the matter Bishop? Worried about me?" she asked with a slight smile.
"Not at all," Bishop sneered. "If you want to get yourself killed go ahead, just don't expect me to follow you down that road." He saw her eyes widen in surprise and then narrow in anger. He wasn't prepared for her fist to come flying towards him and he staggered back slightly from the blow to his jaw. He saw her other hand coming towards him, a glint of metal in it, and just barely managed to catch her wrist and fling her to the side.
Nimbrethil slammed up against the wall hard and felt the breath leave her body. She heard the others shout words of surprise and dismay but her attention was solely on the man who loomed in front of her. Before she could move, he had grabbed both her arms and pinned her to the wall with his body, effectively immobilizing her.
"Listen up little elf," Bishop growled. "I like you, so I'll cut you some slack this time. But be warned, you try to attack me like that again and I'll make sure it's the last thing you do."
"And you be warned," Nimbrethil growled in return. "Watch your tongue or I'll cut it out and shove it down your throat, and then I'll gut you like a pig."
Bishop glared down into her eyes and had to bite back a smile for there was no fear there, just anger. Very few men and even fewer women had dared face down his anger, and most were afraid when he threatened their lives. Not his little elf. She stood her ground and gave as good as she got, not fazed one bit by his threat. She even had the gall to issue one of her own.
Shandra had frozen where she was when Nim had attacked Bishop. She was so shocked at what happened, and at how quickly it had happened, that she wasn't sure how to react. She saw Casavir tensely watching, obviously wanting to interfere, but not sure if he should. She was glad he was far enough away that he couldn't hear the threats the two had thrown at each other. She doubted anything would have stopped him from attacking Bishop if he had. She herself wasn't sure if the words were said in the heat of the moment, or if they really meant them. She shivered slightly at the thought that these two could seriously harm each other despite their intimate relationship. She had thought that the two really cared about each other, but she didn't understand how they could threaten each other like that if they did.
"What is going on between those two?" Khelgar muttered to no one in particular.
"I believe they are having their first lover's quarrel," Elanee answered, frowning at the two of them. She was not sure she understood what exactly was between the two of them, but she was concerned about the physical violence they just demonstrated towards each other. She had witnessed many couples arguing before, but never with deadly weapons in their hands.
Casavir had been as surprised as everyone else when Nim attacked the ranger. If Bishop had tried to hurt Nim nothing would have stopped him from tearing the man to pieces. However, he hadn't and now the paladin wasn't sure what to do. So he stood and waited like everyone else for the two of them to finish their "talk" and get back to the business at hand.
Bishop released her arms and stepped back, eyeing her warily, but she merely pushed away from him and walked back towards the group. He saw Shandra staring at him with surprise and perhaps disgust. Obviously she had heard what was said, even though no one else could have, and was upset. He didn't expect anyone to understand and so he simply sneered at her and then followed Nim. As he neared the others he saw the paladin glaring at him and returned the glare, daring the man to say something, anything.
Casavir saw the challenge in the ranger's eyes and gave serious thought to taking him up on it. But he knew that Nimbrethil wouldn't allow it to happen, despite the prior events, and so he turned away. Besides, they had still not dealt with Garius and that was what they were here for. However, he swore to himself that he would answer Bishop's challenge one day soon, regardless of Nim's feelings. The man had no right to do what he did, despite the obvious provocation. He was bigger and stronger than the girl and, despite what she thought, Nim was no match for him. Bishop would learn how to treat a woman properly, even it meant learning the lesson at the ends of his fists.
"Everything okay lass?" Khlegar asked as Nimbrethil walked by them heading towards a door that led down towards what might be a basement.
"Everything's fine Khelgar," Nimbrethil answered, her tone clearly indidcating she didn't want to talk about it. "Garius isn't anywhere on this floor, which leaves whatever is below us as the only possible place left. Hopefully, the ceiling won't cave in on us while we're down there."
"Maybe he is in one of the towers," Vale spoke up. He noticed that there was a new level of tension in the group and hoped that whatever problems they were having would not interfere with the mission.
"No, the towers were in worse shape than the rest of the keep," Nimbrethil shook her head. "There's no way anyone would attempt any kind of complex ritual in such uncertain conditions. He's down there, I'm positive of it."
"All righty then, let's finish this and get out of here, my stomach's telling me it's past breakfast time," Khelgar boomed out.
Nimbrethil chuckled at the comment. "Poor Khelgar, I forgot that you dwarves need six meals a day to keep you on your toes."
"That's right lass," Khelgar chuckled. "Just figured I'd remind you so you'd get your tail in gear and quit horsing around with ranger boy."
Bishop laughed as he came up behind them. "Hey don't blame me, she started it." He smiled at Nim and saw her return his smile. Obviously, she considered the matter closed now and was as eager as he was to put it behind them.
"Let's go get that bastard Garius," Nimbrethil flashed the group a vicious smile. She couldn't wait to make the man pay for all the trouble he had caused her. He would be sorry their paths ever crossed.
Shandra looked at Casavir and saw the man was just as puzzled as she was by the way those two seemed to have put aside the fact that only minutes ago they had been at each others throats. She decided that it would probably be a good idea to have a talk with some of the others about what she had heard. Maybe Sand or Elanee, or hells even Khelgar, could shed some light on the odd relationship their two rangers had. She would have to just make sure that Casavir never found out.