The morning arrived and there was still no sign of Tyris or Trip. Fetch had fell asleep on a chair, with little Hush on his lap. When the cleric awoke and realized this, he lifted the small girl and carried her to the bed that Baalphzon and Surry had prepared for her.

He gazed at the little girl. Should he have waited for Tyris? It was a pretty big decision to make without consulting her. He felt a little angry that she had ventured off without him. Did she think that he was holding her back? He wasn't the greatest adventurer in the world, but he was a cleric, he had powers over undead or something. More importantly she had missed the appointment Baalphzon made . She seemed determined to adopt, and at first opportunity she changed her plans and went off vampire hunting.

"Captain Fetch! Captain Fetch!", a familiar high pitch voice cried out.

The cleric looked at his ruffled clothes. He took off his old tunic and threw a new one on. He splashed water on his face then proceeded to the main hall. Yasmina was there along with Dietrich. Fetch smiled as he saw the embarrassed look on the knight's face. It seemed Father Ferdinand was right after all. Yasmina on the other hand, had a worried look on his brow. He was pacing back and forth practicing a speech .

"Good morning, Yasmina, Dietrch. What is it? My patrol isn't till tomorrow.", yawned Fetch as he greeted the pair.

"Captain Fetch! We have a crisis! Lord Kerr thinks you've sent assassins or something , and they've systematically destroying secret enclaves under his protection.", cried Yasmina. He paused as he saw a scowl on Fetch's face. " You know of this? You have been sending assassins!"

Fetch held up his hands, "Wait a minute, I haven't been sending assassins. I think that was Tyris and Trip. They got a tip or a clue or something when we stopped that black carriage the other night. They were convinced there were vampires in town , and they were going to hunt them down. Beyond that I don't know what they did."

Yasmina eyed Fetch suspiciously. "Your wife went out hunting vampires, and you don't care? What if they got killed or something!"

Fetch sighed, "First off, I do care, second ..I wasn't invited. and third, Tyris is a big girl...she doesn't need me. ". Fetch felt an unexpected lump in his throat when he stated the third point. Did she really need him? Did he need her? Besides the occasional romp in the bed, or hand holding, Fetch was painfully aware they had nothing in common. They practically read each others mind in combat, but he had a similar rapport in battle with Frank too. Outside of combat was a different matter. She always seemed to run off and vanish without telling him, he pretended he didn't mind but this last incident really drove home how far they actually were apart.

Yasmina paced, lost in his thoughts,"I'll be right back...I need to get my writing supplies. We have to write an apology to Lord Kerr. " .With that said, the young noble quickly vanished in a puff of smoke .

Fetch was about to say that wasn't necessary , but found himself alone with Dietrch,"Err...so how was the rest of the party? Tyris and I left early."

Dietrch seemed nervous," Umm...Its hard for me to say this...even harder to understand. You're from the north, you know how rigid our society is. Men are men, women are women. Well I drank a bit too much that night, I've always been a weakling when it came to liquor...well one thing led to another..."

Fetch held his hand, he could guess what had happened. No need for Dietrch to lower his self esteem more by admitting it to him. The cleric figured, that the 2 drank too much, and took to "experimenting", Fetch didn't approve of the loose southern lifestyles, but he accepted that it was the way things worked here. Looking at the well groomed and primped Dietrch , Fetch figured that the knight secretly played for the other "team", and it was only a matter of time that the easy southern lifestyle allowed him to express it.

Dietrch ignored Fetch's signal," ...it...it was AMAZING...I don't know what exactly happened, but I woke up in bed with Yasmina...and...I felt great. I know such relations are frowned upon in our society...and you wouldn't believe what I discovered..."

Fetch blocked his ears at this point, "Too much information ...too much information..."

Despite his audio blockade Dietrch continued with his story but the cleric only heard bits and pieces.. "...Yasmina...illusion...hidden... wonderful..."

Fetch shouted at the top of his lungs, "LA..LA..LA...LA...I CAN'T HEAR YOU ..LA ..LA..LA.. I HAVE CHILDREN IN THE HOUSE... "

Yasmina quickly returned and he gave a nervous smile to Dietrch. Apparently he wasn't sure how to react to the love stricken knight as well. He walked past him to the shouting Fetch and rolled out a piece of vellum. "I'm thinking of a "grovel for your life " approach. A simple " I'm sorry "won't be enough I think when dealing with an entity like Kerr."

Fetch stopped and looked at his aide," Does Lord Kerr really protect vampires? Or did my "assassins" strike the wrong targets. Even if people did error, is it really necessary to grovel? Me and my friends vanquished a large pack of demons the other day. What's Lord Kerr going to do ? Tax us?"

Yasmina stopped and looked at Fetch in shock," Do you not know what Lord Kerr is capable of? He is a deep sovereign, a lord of many eyes . Do you know what that is? "

Fetch was surprised at Yasmina's concern, "Umm a king? "

Yasmina shook her head, " No, not that type of sovereign, the type of sovereign I'm referring to is..."

The doors swung open and two big Grommish guards entered with Lord Kerr behind them. "You have a lot to answer for FETCH! Warmaster or not , what is the meaning of these assassins?"

Fetch began to answer then his jaw dropped. Behind Lord Kerr were 3 statues , they seemed to be carved to resemble people he knew. One was a well dressed youth curled in a ball, the other a small mechanical man in shock , the last was a leather clad rogue with a sorrowful defeated look.

"Wow, that's an incredible likeness! That looks just like Tyris and Trip. I don't know who the third one is suppose to be. Is that Ymir without a dress or something? If so you need to have the hair curlier and an axe would probably work too.", said Fetch marveling at these lifelike statues.

Dietrch agreed," Yes the craftsmanship is amazing. Compliments to the artisan."

Lord Kerr seemed to grow red with anger,"Are you people mocking me? These are the assassins you sent hunting the vampires under my protection! I stopped them just in time, they were going to plunge the city in a demonic war...a war we can't win."

Fetch raised an eyebrow,"Wait a minute,...slow down...vampires under your protection...demonic war? ...what's all this about?"

Kerr's hand tightened and he glanced at Yasmina, the young noble nodded, and Kerr relaxed a bit.

"You really have no idea what's going on do you? Can we sit down? When I first saw you I thought you were a stumbling idiot or either extremely cunning, hiding your ignorance to fool your enemies. So what is it? ", said Kerr.

"Oh he's an idiot. I knew that right away. ", said Surry with Baalphzon on his shoulder as she strode into the meeting. The wizard was wearing a more traditional light ranger tunic, rather then the decorative green and white dress she wore the previous day.

Kerr smiled at the intrusion, "Forgive me...you are?"

Surry rolled her eyes, "You know who I am, if not , you should have your spies flogged. I'm Syre the half elf that replace Talia . Before you go off your rocker, take a look at this. "

The wizard threw a folder with various papers in it . Fetch recognized some as arena records, some were newspaper clippings, and others were hand written notes in elvish. There were also charcoal rubbings in the folder, Fetch vaguely recognized them as odd runes that were located at the grove.

Lord Kerr scanned the papers , and records. "Where did you get this?"

Baalphzon began to speak but the elf pushed him aside, Surry smiled , she knew she had won," Records are from your man in the arena, Hoaglie. The newspaper clippings were easy enough , any old book store. The notes I wrote were from interviews with the grove's older worshippers. The rubbings are from the grove. They didn't seem to fit the elven theme, and I thought they were a bit suspicious. I had them removed after I made those rubbings."

Kerr seemd to grow mad once again, but thankfully Fetch could tell he wasn't mad at anyone in the room, "How many more? "

Surry laughed, "A lot I bet, but I'm not sure. You might want to keep a tighter grip on your city there. If I were a betting woman, which I am, I would say try the docks, the militia, especially the ones with dangerous patrols in the wilderness, and any merchant caravans that come from slave trading areas."

Kerr stood up and bowed, "I owe you an apology Captain Fetch, I thought you were undermining my authority, in fact you've shown me the nest of vipers I've surrounded myself with. Even so , your assassins were dangerously close to causing a war. I suggest you consult with myself or my aides in the future before you unleash forces we can not master."

Fetch stood up , "WAIT STOP RIGHT THERE, I have no clue what either of you just said. Like , everything is flying over my head. I admit , I'm not bright or clever, but if someone took the time to explain to me what's going on, I might be able to contribute more then dumb stares."

Baalphzon shook his head, "Nice going Fetch, for a second there he almost thought you were some cunning master mind, now he knows you're a doofus."

Kerr chuckled, "Do not think your theatrics have me fooled. Assassins hunt down my "friends" , and your other servants present me with evidence to prove to me they are my enemies. All strings lead to one man. If you expect me to believe some simpleton is blindly pulling them, you are mistaken. I applaud you for your clever ruse. "

Fetch grew red and huffed,"Jokes on you Kerr! I am a simpleton and I have no clue what's going on!"

Surry grabbed Fetch's shoulder and shook her head.

Kerr laughed out loud, "I suppose you became Warmaster by accident as well, or that you defeated Yeenoghu, Duke Ari, Dalton and Bel through blind luck. I appreciate your showmanship , but I must be off. I have much to consider and much to plot."

Kerr waved at his two body guards and they left the manor. "A final note, your assassins are very good , they wiped out 4 enclaves of vampires in one night. My compliments to your staff." He stared at the statues and the 3 became flesh or wood, and fell to the ground.

The young boy picked himself up, "Errr...this isn't the trog pit ? How long were we stone statues? I get paid by the hour you know. Hey I know you, you're the Captain Vampire hunter guy. Remember me?"

Fetch stared at the boy, he was a strange orange color and had some scales on his skin. "Zix? the carriage driver?"

"Close enough! Its Zax, and who's gonna pay me. ", Baalphzon flew to the orange boy and deposited a small bag. The boy was about to complain , but he saw the contents of the bag and joyfully bowed and ran off into the street.

"Wait till he finds the rot grubs I put in there.", laughed the imp.

Trip picked himself off the floor and his head was down cast. Fetch gave him an angry stare, and he left the room quietly.

Fetch glared angrily at Tyris and she glared defiantly back. An uneasy tension filled the room. Surry and Baalphzon both claimed they had urgent affairs elsewhere, and they both left.

"Did you really put rot grubs with that boys reward?",asked Surry while they were safely in the kitchen.

"Nah, They're too hard to find, I did put some poisonous spiders in there though.", replied the imp

"You could have waited for me...I could have helped..."

"..."

"Don't glare at me like that, you screwed up , and I had to take the heat from Kerr."

"..."

"Am I not good enough to go with you? You took Trip instead? "

"Trip is good at what he does."

"And I'm not? I'm not a goddess like you...but I try."

"That didn't come out right...I know you try...but there are things I don't want you to see."

"I know that, and it gets me mad...We've been together for almost 4 years now...and you still hide secrets from me. I don't know what you have against vampires, and I'm guessing I'll never know."

"Its something I don't want to talk about. A dark time."

"More secrets. I should be use to them by now. It's like I don't even know you."

"..."

"You know its true. I try to be open , tell you everything, but your a closed door to me."

"...You have your secrets too..."

"Eh? What are you talking about?"

"Don't play the fool. The elf in the arena, you could have killed her, but you stopped at the last moment. She had green eyes, just like the elf you left the plateau for. That's the reason you kept fighting in the arena wasn't it? . I'm guessing from our lack of funds, that you gave her your winnings. "

"You saw that? How...oh never mind your a goddess, slumming with us mere mortals. To answer your question, my winnings I let Baalphzon donate. but your right , I kept fighting in the arena to help her out."

"Don't call me that...Do you love her?"

"Of course not! I love you, I ...I just wanted to help her out."

"I could have helped, but you didn't trust me did you?"

"I can't keep anything from you , can I goddess? I'm an open book while you are free to keep your dark secrets."

"Don't say that...I'm not a goddess."

"Yes you are! With or without your blade, you do those impossible combat moves, you can vanish from sight. Everyone who knows you, know that your some type of demi god. Clovis, Earl, Roland, we all know. I bet if you really wanted , you could have killed Kerr , but you put limits on yourself , so you can act like us mortal ants. Have your fun doing the "pretend you're normal" thing."

"..."

"You know I'm right. Its just a big game for you isn't it? I'm just a piece in your drama."

"You're words...wound me...If it was a show...would I have let Bel capture me, and ...and...let our daughter die..."

"..."

"I don't tell you things , because I'm ashamed to. I keep secrets because I'm afraid they will hurt you. I don't want to lose you...but I've been having thoughts."

"I don't want to lose you too..."

"You don't understand . I've thought of leaving you for a long time now. After that Farastu defeated me, I thought of leaving to protect you from myself...After our band broke up at Mammoth Keep...I thought of leaving, instead I joined your side ...After the battle with the Great Host, I thought of continuing my service to Roland,...after Kard's prophecy, I thought of sparing us the pain of our fates...after Bel, after our baby..."

"...I ...I care very deeply for you Tyris..."

"I care deeply for you Fetch. Every time I thought of leaving you, I came up with reasons not to. A reason to stay. You keep my anchored , you make me feel safe, you make me feel loved."

"Do I make you feel happy?"

"We...I...we...have nothing in common , aside from battle and coupling. I hoped our child would give us something to bond over, but Kard was right. I don't know if we can go on like this. I'm to neurotic to let you in, and your ...your greatest strength is your greatest fault."

"I ..I ..don't understand."

"That's exactly what I mean."

"What do we do now..."

"I'm sorry Fetch, I care deeply for you, and I know you care deeply for me. but in the end, we're together because its convient, and we feel safe. We need more then that. Both of us do. I need some time alone ...to think this through. I'm being unfair, please understand. There's a void in my heart. Gnawing , cold, and empty. I don't know if you can fill that void or fall victim to it. I've tried to make it work...but I'm tired...tired of trying. "

"Don't go..."

Tyris simply stepped back and vanished. No final hug, no chance for him to beg her to stay.

Fetch sat in the main hall, alone.

He cursed his deception . He should have trusted Tyris enough to let her know about Nara.

There were so many things he did that he could have done better. He failed in protecting her in McDunnalds. He regretted yelling at her in Mammoth Keep. He regretted yelling at her today.

In the end, he just wanted her to be happy. She was the most important person in his life, and she wasn't happy. Was it selfish for him to keep her , if she wasn't happy. He considered her words about safety versus happiness , about convience versus love. Was there relationship based solely on utility ?

He got up , and threw the chair he sat on at the wall. It shattered into pieces. He was angry at himself, at Tyris , at the world. He wasn't going to let it end this way. He would find her, and do what it takes to convince her to stay. He wasn't going to let this incident end the love of his life.

Fetch checked the store room first, if she was going to leave, she would need supplies. He entered the kitchen and saw Baalphzon and Surry staring outside wordlessly. He realized that their argument was probably heard around the house. He didn't care at that point. He had to find his wife.

"Have you seen Tyris?", he demanded. The pair avoided his gaze and shook their heads.

Fetch then went to the simple armory the manor had. He saw Trip cleaning his crossbow with Freiki at his side . "Tyris been around here?", but the warforged shook his head as well.

Fetch wasted no time and ran outside. Yasmina and Dietrch were sitting on a stone bench . By the way they smiled and acted, Fetch doubted they heard his shouts from earlier. "Have you guys seen Tyris?" . but the pair shrugged and continued talking.

Fetch ran around the block , twice. Asking everyone if they had seen his wife recently. No one gave a useful answer , and Fetch resigned himself back to the manor. He would have to widen the net. Maybe get Dahanna, or Hoaglie to keep an eye for her. He considered going to Father Ferdinand. He was suppose to have some far reaching visions, he wondered if he had anything of monetary value to offer him, but he might consider a service in exchange for use of his gift.

Fetch threw his hammer in frustration , it smashed into the ground and created a deep crater. A guard saw this and began to protest, but when he saw who it was , he apologized to Captain Fetch. People began stepping away from him, some from fear, some from awe.

Fetch wondered if Tyris felt like this, she was so powerful that people shunned her. So close to happiness but to have it taken away from her . He knew the loss of their daughter was much greater for her then himself. Fetch had already proven that he was capable of having children, but failing constantly with Tyris and even having a god tell you that you weren't able to have a child must be devastating. To actually get pregnant, but then have the child robbed from you must have drove her over the edge. Fetch knew she hid it well, but he knew she was suffering. The sight of their daughter from a different dimension probably was the last straw. Such a beautiful young woman, such a beautiful daughter denied to her.

Fetch wondered why these thoughts were coming to him now. It would have better serviced him a few days ago. Was he that callous?

Fetch looked around and saw a small crowd gathered around him. They were all at a safe distance. No one wanted to get close to such a dangerous person. He heard whispers of god, and demi god...and he felt the barbs dig into his heart.

"How ironic he thought.", as he slumped his shoulders and walked back to his manor. Although he couldn't find his wife, he still had responsibilities. A brand new set in fact.

It was late in the afternoon. Fetch had spent most of the day searching for Tyris but had failed. Yasmina and Dietrch had gone home, Fetch assumed they had left together.

Baalphzon and Surry were waiting quietly outside. Surry was sitting on the porch swing. She was unusually quiet, but Fetch could see a sad frown on her face. The imp was in the form of a cat and was on Surry's lap. Fetch thought if he ever broke his bonds with the imp, Surry would be a good mistress for him.

"A good observation, but I wouldn't leave your side...oooops sorry ..I didn't mean disrespect.", the imp projected.

"It's fine. I don't blame you. I don't blame anyone but myself. ", thought Fetch regrettably. It was sad, that a imp was the only one he could confide in right now.

Fetch went upstairs and suddenly stopped. He heard quiet singing.

The cleric opened the door to his room, and saw Tyris on a chair singing to a small smiling girl on her lap . The girl seemed oblivious to the tension in the air, but reached towards Fetch.

"Hello.", she said.

Fetch walked slowly forward, and grasped her small hand. Tyris looked at him and smiled. She had tear marks on her face, but she seemed genuinely happy.

"She's so beautiful. ",Tyris whispered as she hugged the young girl.

"Her name is Sharliss, but we call her Hush.", said Fetch gentley.

The girl smiled at the mention of her name and gleefully clapped.

"Thank you Fetch, ...thank you...", Tyris said , tears freely flowing once again."Can we try this...one more time?"