Chapter 62: Homecoming: Part 1
Nimbrethil stood at the top of the hill staring at the woods before her. The road stretched away from her feet, winding its way under the shadow of the trees and continuing on through the Mere. There wasn't much in the way of civilization around here, just the Weeping Willow Inn and then West Harbor beyond that. However, there were other inhabitants in the area, the most common being lizardfolk. She was listening intently and smelling the air but could detect no trace of anyone or anything and that disturbed her. Despite her excellent eyesight she could detect no movement, not in the air or on the ground. Even the trees were silent, no air moving their branches or rustling their leaves. As it was spring time there shoud have been more signs of life and yet everything appeared to be dead.
Motioning to the others to remain where they were, she proceeded to move slowly down the road, peering closely at the ground. Try as she might, she could find no tracks indicating that anyone had passed this way recently. There was also no sign of animal tracks, either on the road or in the grass to either side of it. Lying down, she pressed her ear flat to the road, listening intently. After a few moments she got to her feet and returned to the others.
"I can detect no movement anywhere around here," she told them as she approached.
"Well, that's good," Neeshka spoke up. "Won't have to worry about any of them lizard people you've talked about."
"No Neeshka, it's not good," Nimbrethil sighed. Seeing the puzzled looks she explained. "It is spring, the mating season, and there should be all kinds of signs of life around here. The woods surrounding the Mere have always teemed with life and yet now there is nothing. It's almost as if all the animals and other creatures have left or were driven away by something. I don't like it."
"I can see a darkness of some sort shrouding the land around here," Elanee said softly.
Nimbrethil looked sharply at her. "Since you see it too it means I'm not imagining things. Do you sense that it is the same as what we felt in that cave beneath the Sword Mountains? Where we found the emissary?"
"Yes, and it is probably the reason the animals have left," Elanee replied. "Also, the lizard tribes had been moving away from the Mere for some time and perhaps for the same reason."
"In the months before the attack on West Harbor, Daeghun and I both noticed that the trap lines were not producing the way they had in years past," Nimbrethil said softly. "Also, the number of deer and other game seemed to be shrinking. The crops too were not growing as they had in years past and yet there was no problem with either the soil or the water supply. We had attributed the lack of game to just the normal shortages that occur every few years or so, but could come up with no reason for the poor crops. Maybe this darkness has something to do with that."
"Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't," Bishop spoke up. "I don't think you're going to find the answer here though. Let's keep going and just keep a close eye out for any clues that might be around. Although, if the animals have all left then perhaps we should too. I never go against the instincts of animals."
"These are my woods Bishop," Nimbrethil told him, her voice tinged with anger. "I have a responsibility to try to determine whatever the threat is, if possible."
"I have called out to those I knew when I was last here and yet have heard no response," Thorondor told her. "They are long since gone from here I think."
Bishop heard a whine from his left and turned to Karnwyr to see the dire wolf looking nervous if that was possible. "What's wrong fella?" he asked, going over to scratch the wolf's head.
"Place feels wrong, don't like it," Karnwyr told him. "Smells wrong too. Can sense something bad in there. Makes me want to head other way."
Nimbrethil heard the nervousness in Karnwyr's thoughts and it increased her own tension. Bishop was right, it was always wise to trust to the instincts of animals. Unlike supposedly smarter beings like humans and dwarves, they always fled away from danger they didn't know or understand. However, her father was still in West Harbor, and she knew that if anyone could help answer her questions then he could.
"Well, I won't blame anyone who wants to wait here," Nimbrethil looked at each of them in turn. "I have to get to West Harbor and talk to Orlen about helping with the fields at the Keep. Also, I need to talk with Daeghun about the situation and see what he has to say about it. My father may have the answers to some of our questions."
"I too am interested in the cause of this," Elanee replied. "However, we should not delay our return to the keep too much, so we should not tarry here."
"Elanee, I waited an extra day to leave so that you could give detailed instructions to Casavir about the gardens and such," Nimbrethil said, mild annoyance in her voice. "Casavir is not one to cut corners and will follow your instructions to the letter."
"Still, I would have felt better being there to oversee things," Elanee said softly.
"Sorry Elanee, but considering what we've found I'm glad I insisted you come with us," Nimbrethil apologized. She turned her attention back to the road, informing the others that they should get going, and proceeding to head down it.
"Careful what you say or you'll make her suspicious," Bishop hissed at the druid. "I don't want to spoil her surprise." He then hurried to fall into step with the elf as she walked away.
Elanee sighed and followed hoping that everything would work out with the Captain's suite. She knew Nim better than anyone, so she had felt pretty confident about her ideas, but she just didn't know if Veedle or his workers were going to get it right. However, Nim had practically ordered her to join them and to contest that would have made the other elf very suspicious.
"You know, if I remember rightly, the Weeping Willow had some pretty good ale," Khlegar told Nim. "Perhaps when we reach it we can have a tankard or two before moving on. What do you say?"
"That perhaps we should give the Willow a wide berth," Nim retorted. "I know how quickly you can toss down the ale and the last thing we need is a drunk dwarf going through the mere."
"Yeah, if we stop at the inn so Khelgar can have a couple we won't get anything done," Neeshka snorted and rolled her eyes.
Khelgar gave the tiefling an evil look and grumbled about nobody letting him have any fun anymore which merely set the others to laughing. Seeing Nim laughing easily with them made him take note again of how different she was now from the first time they had met. There was a trust and friendship between them now, something he had not thought possible given that she was an elf. However, between Elanee, Nim, and Sand, he had come to realize that not all elves were untrustworthy. That was something that Hlam had been trying to tell him but he just didn't get it then. Now he realized that he was wrong to judge people by what they were. Just as Nim had learned to be less condescending, he had learned to be less judgemental. Chuckling quietly to himself, he marvelled at how much they had all changed in the past few months. Hells, even Bishop was better behaved and who would have thought that would happen?
Nimbrethil saw Grobnar had stopped to admire a particularly beautiful flower. Sighing she walked over to him to get his attention. "Listen Grobnar, I need you to do something for me," she told him and saw him look up eagerly.
"Of course, of course, happy to help," Grobnar said cheerfully.
"Okay, just because I have not yet seen any signs of life here doesn't mean that there isn't some evidence or clues about," Nim began and saw she had the gnome's full attention. "I'm going to be walking to the right side of the road and Bishop will be on the left. I need you to walk down the middle of the road and keep an eye out for any kind of tracks you might see. I've shown you various types of tracks already and shown you how to tell which way they are going. I need you to make note of what you see, if anything, and then tell me about it when we reach the Weeping Willow. If you see anything that you don't recognize, I want you to stop immediately and call me over. Think you can do all of that?"
"Indeed, you can count on me!" the gnome exclaimed and then hurried off to stand in the road.
Nimbrethil saw Bishop roll his eyes and snort before shaking his head. She found the gnome's eagerness to be amusing, and had tried hard not to let anything dampen it. Grobnar saw so much wonder in the world that he had helped her to see many things in a new light. It still amazed her that he could retain a certain innocence about him despite all of the bad things he had witnessed. It was one of the special qualities he had that made him nice to have around, even if she did have to make sure he didn't accidently get himself into trouble.
Seeing that everyone was ready and waiting for her, she once again started down the road into the mere. The whole group moved silently, everyone keeping their eyes and ears open for any sign of potential trouble. As their path meandered through the woods, Nimbrethil felt her unease growing. It was too quiet and she almost felt as if she was walking through a desert devoid of life rather than a lush forest. She noticed that even Grobnar seemed to feel the effects of the gloominess for he had stopped smiling. They continued on however and soon she saw the inn ahead of them and it appeared to be the same as it always had been.
Khelgar saw the inn and quickened his pace, moving ahead of the others, a smile on his face at the thought of having a couple of beers. However, as soon as he neared the front door he saw a padlock on it and stopped in shock. "It's locked up!" he exclaimed to the others.
"What?" Nimbrethil asked, hurrying over to him. Seeing that the dwarf was correct she felt a shiver run down her spine. "The Weeping Willow has never been locked up like this, not in all the years it's been here."
"I too have never heard of it being closed," Elanee commented with a frown as she joined them. "It does not appear to have been attacked, so the question becomes why did the owners leave?"
"Maybe there was nobody coming along the road," Bishop spoke up. "An inn can't stay open if they have no customers. But, it usually takes more than a couple of weeks of no business to make owners decide to close up shop."
"I saw nothing to indicate that anyone or anything has been on the road recently," Grobnar chimed in. "It is possible that I missed something though."
"Okay, no animals, no people, boarded up inns?" Neeshka queried, a tinge of nervousness in her voice. "I don't like this."
Nimbrethil stared at the inn for a moment longer before turning away. "We should press on and try to reach West Harbor as quickly as possible. I need to inform Daeghun about this and see what he has to say. Hopefully, the clues to this mystery can be found there."
The others said nothing, merely fell into step behind her as she continued on down the road. Each of them were now even less eager to go deeper into the mere, but knew that they had no other choice. In silence they followed the elf, hoping that they would soon be going in the other direction, back towards the keep and civilization.