Ceileigh woke up the next morning feeling considerably calmer. Anxiety was down in the pit of her stomach somewhere, but thanks to Leandor she didn't feel overwhelmed by it anymore. She felt like her normal self again. She put thoughts of battling Grigori to the side for now and focused on preparation and learning everything she could about her situation. She wished she knew if they had to find him or if he would come attack them when he chose. She didn't, however, so she could only do her best to be ready.
As they got ready for the day, Ceileigh looked forward to trying her hand at something other than fishing. She was beginning to realize just how limited her skill set was, and was very eager to expand her horizons. Even though she and Leandor were both used to getting up very early, they didn't talk much in the mornings. Ceileigh wasn't one of those people who was bright and cheery at that hour, and Leandor was too down-to-business to initiate small talk. They took what equipment they needed but left their armor propped up against their travel packs.
She and Leandor had secured two jobs the night before. The butcher needed three cows from the herds outside the city by six o'clock in the morning. Also, a woman selling game in Fountain Square needed someone to hunt small game in place of her injured husband.
"Do you know how to hunt?" Ceileigh asked Leandor as they exited the city's main gate with a nod to the guards.
"A little, master. Although my purpose is battle, another Arisen I aided was a very experienced hunter and required me to make simple snares."
Ceileigh chuckled inwardly at his single-mindedness. "Okay. These hills are full of rabbits, I saw dozens of them on the way here. How about you set a bunch of snares while I get the cows?"
If he were human, he would have sighed resignedly. "Yes, master."
They found a small herd nearby, watching them with sleepy brown eyes. Ceileigh soon found that gathering them wasn't as easy as she expected. Leandor watched from a short distance as he set traps all around the area. Ceileigh approached the herd with a rope she intended to loop around one of their necks. The cows let her get very close, but every time she tried to touch one it galloped away and turned to stare at her from a distance, affronted. It was infuriating! Six o'clock was fast approaching and so far they had zero cows.
Ceileigh turned to Leandor and gestured at the now-scattered herd in exasperation. "Perhaps we can use their behavior to our advantage, master," he said, leaving his snares to help her. He walked at one cow head-on, until it finally wheeled around with a snort and trotted away. He repeated that with the same cow, gradually guiding it in the direction he wanted it to go, until it was close to a cluster of boulders that formed a U-shape.
Leandor stayed in front of the cow with his arms open wide to keep it from running away. "Perhaps if you climb onto the rocks from the other side, master? I will guide this creature in between the rocks and you can slip the rope over its neck from above," he suggested. Feeling foolish for not thinking of something like this herself, Ceileigh slowly did as he said so as not to spook the cow. Leandor took another few steps and the dim-witted animal backed up right into the space, eyes rolling in fright now that it was cornered. Ceileigh threw the loop around its head on the first try.
She smiled, relieved. "Good idea, that worked we-!" She cut off in surprise as the skittish beast suddenly head-butted Leandor and galloped a few steps. Ceileigh, who was still holding onto the rope, flew forward off of the rock and landed flat on her face. She rolled onto her back, clutching the rope to her chest, and craned her neck around to see Leandor sitting on the ground with a slightly surprised look on his face. They just stared at each other for a moment, then Ceileigh burst out laughing. "That was hilarious! Behold the mighty Arisen!" She kept laughing uncontrollably for several minutes. The cow regarded her morosely with one large eye and snorted, shifting its feet.
Leandor was mostly used to human outbursts by now, but didn't always know what to do or say in the face of them. His lips compressed into a tight line and he frowned slightly. He was highly aware of his failure to help complete this task smoothly, as well as the undignified position he was now in. In spite of that, he had to admit it was nice to see his master smiling instead of worrying. And it was a good sign that she was laughing over this mishap instead of losing heart. He supposed he should follow suite and remain positive.
"Master, we should move along," he said, standing. "Our time is running short."
Ceileigh finally got herself under control and sighed, "You're right." She got to her feet, checked herself for damage and found none. The cow was amiable enough now that it had been captured, and they led it successfully to the butcher. They easily caught two more using the same rock cluster and thankfully neither of them tried to run. Afterward, Leandor gathered what their snares had caught while Ceileigh picked off a few other rabbits and some birds with her bow. Rabbits were very hard to hit, and birds were next to impossible. One day this will be a piece of cake, she told herself. Practice, practice, practice.
They hunted, unloaded more crates at the alehouse and did other odd jobs around town for the rest of the week until they were able to buy new armor and more supplies. By the end of the next week they'd earned enough to pay ahead on their room for a while too. Ceileigh did wish they had enough for separate rooms so she could have a little time to herself sometimes and maybe take a full bath, but so far they didn't and Leandor would clearly never allow it anyway.
Every day after work, they spent hours training. Ceileigh learned how to use different types of daggers and practiced the bow tirelessly. She slowly became better at hitting small, fast targets. She began hunting the majority of their meat and gathered lots of fruits and vegetables from the hills, which cut down considerably on expenses. She taught herself how to cook rabbit and other small rodents, various game birds, and of course she brought in fish from the stream that ran just outside Gran Soren's walls.
From time to time they caught Mason watching them as they walked through the city. He made no effort to hide his presence. He made Ceileigh a little nervous because she didn't know what his intentions were, but so far he didn't seem like he wanted to hurt them, so she left it alone. Besides, Leandor was always right there with her so she felt safe.
They had been in Gran Soren for about a month when Ceileigh finally brought up the Pawn Guild and the Everfall again.
"So I guess if we wanted to check out that Everfall place Barnaby was talking about, we better pick a new team," she said one night during dinner.
Leandor looked up a tad too quickly from his bowl, showing his surprise. He was beginning to think they might never go back to the Guild, judging by Ceileigh's reaction last time and the fact that she hadn't mentioned it again. He was also pleased to hear that she regarded herself and her pawns as a team. It was an attitude that few Arisen shared. Most saw Leandor and his kind strictly as soldiers to be commanded at best, but more often as mere instruments or even slaves.
"I did tell Barnaby I'd come back to help him. I think I might be ready now - at least I hope I am. I'm feeling more at ease with my weapons. Besides, you must be getting restless. I'm sure you're used to much more action than this," she laughed self-deprecatingly. I must be the slowest-starting, most boring Arisen ever, she thought with a wry inner chuckle.
"I am very interested in what may be happening in the Everfall, since it is connected to my kind," Leandor agreed. "However, I am not bored, if that is what you mean. It is an honor to serve you, whatever we are doing." He paused, scratching at the short beard he was growing out. "In truth, I have seen more than one Arisen rush too quickly to their purpose and it only causes trouble for them. It is better to plan and prepare as you are doing."
Ceileigh glanced away at the praise, wishing she didn't blush so easily. Leandor's simple sincerity always made her so self-conscious. "Thanks, I'm just doing what makes sense to me and hoping it's the right thing!" she said with a shy laugh. Stop acting like an idiot, she told herself, raising an eyebrow.
They finished dinner, put on their armor and headed to the Pawn Guild. They'd had a fairly easy day and still had plenty of energy to burn. The sight of the building brought back those feeling of being overwhelmed and panicky but Ceileigh calmly tucked them away. It was getting dark as they walked through the door and found Barnaby standing by the riftstone at the end of the room.
"Arisen! It is a pleasure to see you again. What do you require?" he asked, walking to meet them and bowing slightly.
"Sorry I took so long, but I still want to help with the Everfall," she replied, then glanced back at Leandor. "We both do."
"It is strange," said Barnaby with a small smile. "Deep within, we knew of your coming. We believed you would arise, and so we too are come, led by our unbending faith in the Arisen. And now I am so pleased that you are helping us with this mystery."
"I hope I can," she said, smiling back at him. Since there were so many pawns hanging around the Guild, she picked her team from among them instead of using the riftstone. Outside the Rift, she found that reading the pawns' experiences wasn't as easy, as if the link was weaker. She had to hold their hands in addition to meeting their eyes. She soon settled on a warrior named Killian and a mage named Hannah. Killian was close to seven feet tall, with a bald head and a scar across one eye. He wore a long blue cape, had bone armor and carried a gigantic golden sword. Hannah was a diminutive blonde woman with brown eyes and a humble green robe. She carried a gnarled brown staff with a red jewel at the top and seemed very shy.
Barnaby led the four of them to the back of the main room, past the notice board and desks piled high with books, and showed them a narrow opening in the wall to the left of the riftstone. It was very dark and barely looked big enough for two people to walk down it side by side. Ceileigh peered inside uncertainly.
"How far back does this go?" she asked, lighting her lantern.
"The passageway itself is not very long. There is a staircase just inside that leads to an open doorway. The Everfall chamber is beyond," he replied. "If you would assist me, you must travel to the bottom and find out what this strange presence is that I feel."
The rest of the party lit their lanterns and drew their weapons. Ceileigh turned back to Barnaby. "We will report back to you soon." Barnaby nodded once and walked away.
Ceileigh squared her shoulders and entered the passage. A burst of cold, damp air hit them a few steps in. The deeper they descended, the mustier it became. Ceileigh shivered from more than the cold but was determined to meet this challenge. After several minutes she could see dim light up ahead, and soon after that the passageway opened into a huge cylindrical chamber made of multi-colored stone.
Thick beige pillars supported many, many levels of a gray walkway that circled around till it reached the ground far below. The walkway was quite wide and sloped gently to the left. To their immediate right was a wall made of metal bars. Ceileigh walked to the edge and looked down. The floor was covered in a thin layer of mist and was so far away it was hard to see. She could just make out a faint blue glow near the middle of it. She was used to heights from the cliffs around Cassardis, but this drop made her dizzy. She quickly walked back to her pawns.
"Let's go," she said. "Killian, watch our backs." They set off down the path with Ceileigh in the lead, Leandor a step behind, Hannah in the middle and Killian bringing up the rear.
"I can only imagine what we're going to find down here, so keep up your guard." Right on cue, a deep growl sounded from somewhere down the spiral.