Blind Devotion

by dnd4evr

While on the run from a haunting past, a half-orc warlock finds himself the chance companion of a blind elf doctor. Despite her quirks, he finds great comfort in her company, and the two make fast friends...even if their enemies are never far behind. All original characters that are HIGHLY INSPIRED by the cast of Critical Role.

17. The Hazel Festival

The 10th of Quen'pillar began with a marvelous dawn, a horizon set on fire with brilliant oranges and pinks as the sun began its solitary trek across the sky. The world was blanketed in a morning fog that left crystals of ice upon the grasses and the leaves of the fruit-laden trees, adorning everything in a shroud of jewels.

Wafting on the gentle wind of morning was the smell of baking goods and treats that positively saturated the town, and even beyond the fastened window of the inn room, the scents of the festival creeped their way into the noses of those still asleep. Jayce's eyes gently fluttered open, he took a deep breath through his nose, and then pulled his quilt closer around his shoulders as he reveled in the joy of being warm and at peace.

K-thuk.

Jayce startled and twisted to see Dahlia struggling with the window in the room. "The fuc-?"

"Ah!" Dahlia yelped, her back instantly against the wall next to the window. There were several beats as they both stared at each other before Jayce realized Dahlia literally had no clue who was in the second bed.

"Uh, mornin', Dahlia," Jayce said awkwardly.

"Dawn's light- it's you!" Dahlia wheezed. She leaned heavily on her knees and Jayce was hardly surprised to notice she was already fully dressed. "Gods above I wasn't expecting someone else to be in here."

Jayce smirked and settled on the bed to sit more comfortably. "You forgot I was here, didn't ya?"

Dahlia crossed her arms and huffed in indignation. "I didn't forget! I just temporarily didn't remember."

Again, a moment passed between them as they both fought to keep a straight face, but ultimately failed. They burst out laughing nearly in unison and Dahlia stumbled into her bed to sit as they talked.

"Sorry about that," she giggled, her coat sleeve pulled over her hand to dab at her eyes. "The opportunity was just too good to pass up."

"No no no! I don't blame ya at all!" Jayce said with a bright smile that carried over to his voice. "I would'a done the same thing. But why were ya fightin' with the window?"

Dahlia took in a deep breath through her nose. "Don't you smell that? It'd be much easier to smell if the window was open and, well, I'm excited! It's the Hazel Festival!"

"Right, well, fair," Jayce smiled. "Got anythin' you wanna do first?"

"Oh definitely food!" Dahlia said brightly. The excitement was clear on her face as she clasped her hands together. "I can smell something made from caramel and cinnamon and I really want to try it!"

Jayce's face took on a bit of his own excitement at the idea. "That sounds damn tasty right now. We waitin' for the others or just haulin' ass the second I'm dressed?"

Dahlia nearly went with an excited knee-jerk response when she visibly caught herself and scratched at her wrist. "Uh, well, as excited as I am, they would probably like to go with us, and, well, Jonathan was clearly drunk last night, so I should probably get to work-"

Jayce rolled his eyes and let out a short whistle to grab Dahlia's attention so he could interrupt. "I think it's about time those assholes dealt with a hangover, don't you? They can't go relyin' on your cures just because they got some damn bad habits."

Dahlia cocked an eyebrow. "Oh? And what about when you get drunk?"

"Then I get the cure, obviously!" Jayce said with a grin. He stretched his shoulders and they softly popped as he rolled them. "I'm your favorite, after all."

"I wouldn't call you my favorite," Dahlia snickered, although she did wince when Jayce's shoulders made audible complaints against movement. "Well, yet, anyway. I'm trying to be fair. And apparently I need to work on your shoulders again."

"I won't say no…" Jayce teased. The bed creaked slightly as he leaned toward her, and she clearly noticed and giggled.

"Of course you won't," Dahlia said in an attempt to chide him, but the smile was impossible to hide. She had imagined he was giving her the largest, widest puppy dog eyes a man of his stature was capable of and she almost burst out laughing at the thought. "Maybe after the festival today, provided we're not too tired from whatever activities we partake in."

Jayce shrugged and swug his feet out from under the covers, only to immediately regret the action. "Fuckin' hell! The floor's damn cold this morning!"

"And that's why I put my boots close to the bed," Dahlia said under her breath.

Jayce quickly grabbed his own boots and yanked them on over his feet. "Fuck…! My boots are cold too!"

Dahlia gently put a palm to her face and giggled as quietly as possible, to spare Jayce from any unnecessary embarrassment.

"I'm gonna start sleepin' with my clothes under the fuckin' covers…" Jayce grumbled under his breath. He paused for a moment before grabbing his armor off the foot of the bed. "Hey, ya think we'll need our armor today?"

Dahlia tapped her chest. "I always wear mine. Just in case, of course. I don't expect trouble, but you know how the saying goes. Better to be prepared than lacking."

"Good point," Jayce sighed. He pulled on the armor and tightened the straps before he threw on his coat. Once he grabbed his bag, he noticed Dahlia's open medicine bag next to her bed. Just a week ago, the bag had seemed nearly full, but now it was sagging from a lack of supplies.

"Hey, Dahlia?"

She faced him, her hands fidgeting in her lap. "Yes?"

"You need new supplies or somethin'? Your bag's lookin' a mite empty."

Dahlia sighed as her eyes fell to the floor. "Actually, yes. I'm running low on some generic materials, especially the ones that go into Wives' Tears, and there's the materials for that potion I failed to finish. Oh! That reminds me, I finished the last one this morning." She giggled lightly. "I guess while you were sleeping. Apparently you sleep pretty deeply because you didn't even stir, and I hadn't made any efforts to minimize my sound."

Jayce nodded, the last comment slipping by him as he pulled out his journal and quickly jotted down a shopping list. "Mhm… So, let ya run wild in an herb shop. Anything else you need for hittin' the road?"

Dahlia was quiet for a moment, long enough for Jayce to turn toward her and notice she was pulling at her fingers rather aggressively and a sour grimace of shame had taken root on her face. He stepped over to her and tapped her arm, just above her elbow, before he placed his hand there.

"Hey, Dahlia, it's okay. I know you ain't got coin, but I got more'n my fair share. Today's about celebratin' harvest, family, friends, and the bonds of community. Don't worry about what you ain't got; worry about what you do need, and I'll get it for you." He gave her a gentle smile she couldn't see, but he hoped she could hear it "Let's get those worries out of the way so we can enjoy ourselves. Sound fair?"

It took a breath, but Dahlia nodded. She forced a smile and faced him. "That's fair. All I can think of right now is bandages, more sinew thread, and maybe a weapon. All I have is the knife I left in my bag, but I don't like using it unless I have no choice; it's special, and has small parts that are pretty easy to lose."

"Can I see it?" Jayce asked softly. He sat next to her on the bed and watched as she pulled over her bag from the floor.

"If you'd like," she said. After ducking her hand in, she pulled out an unsheathed blade with a gold-inlaid stone cross hilt, and a strange cage-like structure for the handle that carried a glass tube. "Dhaun called it 'the leech', but I prefer 'the blade of bloodletting' because that sounds more like something a doctor would carry. See how deep the bloodvein is on the blade?"

She traced the surprisingly thick groove from an inch below the tip of the blade to the hilt, and continued to trace the hidden line to the glass chamber. "It was made to harvest blood from alchemically useful beasts, but once he lost the ability to walk, he gave the blade to me so I could continue his work. It's...the last thing I have from my home." She winced away from Jayce and tensed her shoulders. "But it's very uncomfortable to use, so I'd rather have a more functional blade to rely on during battle."

"I have so many questions…" Jayce mumbled under his breath. He watched Dahlia carefully as he talked. "You...mind if I ask?"

Dahlia took a deep breath through her nose and let it out slowly through her lips. "Go ahead."

Jayce paused for a moment, trying to read Dahlia's face, but it had gone stoic and still. His curiosity won out over his hesitancy and he carefully asked, "Who's Don?"

"My mentor and alchemical teacher, and my older brother," Dahlia said coldly.

Jayce wanted to know more about her family, the world that shaped her before she went blind. He couldn't stop himself from asking more questions. "What was he like?" he asked softly.

Dahlia put the blade back and gripped her arms. "He was...he was kind, and patient. He protected me from… He was born with clubfoot and spina bifida, which made walking especially difficult for him. It got worse as he aged, and eventually he developed arthritis. I tried to come up with a cure, but my alchemical knowledge was severely lacking at the time. I've never stopped thinking of him, even after I left."

"What did…" Jayce was surprised he dared to ask, but damn his curiosity was insistent that morning. Something about how she said it made him change the subject of his question. "Who did he protect you from?"

"The Genetrice," Dahlia hissed with such venom that Jayce was honestly surprised such a voice was coming from his demure friend. When she did not explain any further, Jayce tapped his fingers on his knee and glanced around awkwardly, mostly in the hope that she would continue unprompted.

After a full minute, Dahlia sighed and hesitated before she dropped her head into her hand. "I'm sorry. Today's supposed to be fun, and I go and ruin it before we even start."

"Hey, I'm the fucker who asked," Jayce said. The awkward chuckle in his voice seemed to prompt a smile in Dahlia, so he held on to some hope that he could salvage the conversation. "Besides, he sounds like a good man. No idea what spine-a...thing is, but I ain't got a doubt you took care of him."

"It means his spine was under-developed since birth," Dahlia said, her voice stoic again. "It could barely support his weight when he became an adult. And..." The emotion creeped back into her voice as she turned away and hugged herself. "I...tried."

Jayce thought back to the night before and, after a false start and brief hesitation, pulled Dahlia into a hug. She didn't even twitch as her head came to rest on his collarbone.

"A long time ago, in a cave, we promised each other we'd help carry each other's demons, right?" he asked softly.

Dahlia nodded, but did not speak.

"Then take as long as you need, too. I ain't bothered by a slow start in the morning."

With whispered thanks, Dahlia shifted to hug him back. They both sat in silence for a moment, and the quiet around them felt warm in each other's arms. As the warmth began to spread through them, Jayce contemplated stroking Dahlia's hair again, but she had already tied it up in a bun.

Would it be awkward if he still tried to pet her hair? Ultimately, it was better not to risk it, so the hug would last as long as possible. After all, he couldn't remember the last time he actually enjoyed getting a hug from someone, so he wanted it to last. Unfortunately, he started to feel awkward after a few minutes, so he shifted slightly, mostly to get into a more comfortable position, but also to have something to do. He opened his mouth to ask about breakfast-

"Hic-kop!"

Crack!

Jayce recoiled after Dahlia's skull cracked into his chin, slamming his teeth together as his mouth had been open at the time. With both hands over his mouth to staunch the pain and muffle the torrent of swears, he glanced over to Dahlia, who had both hands over her mouth as well and looked mortified.

"Dawn's light, Jayce! I'm so sorry! I didn't- hic-kop!"

Dahlia went red as a beet and buried her face in her hands, and Jayce couldn't resist. He burst out laughing, all the pent up awkwardness exploding into mirth.

"Dahlia, you got some damn strong hiccups!" Jayce wheezed. "What the fuck happened?!"

"It's the- hic-kop! Medicine! The medicine! It causes spasms in the-"

Dahlia hiccuped again, but this time blue sparks flew out of her mouth and burst into brilliant blue flames before immediately flaring out. Jayce lost all control and collapsed against his knees, his laughter threatening to cramp his stomach as he continued to loudly guffaw.

"Oh gods damn it all, Dahlia, you are such a treasure," Jayce wheezed. "Fuckin' hells, I thought only kids got hiccups."

Dahlia did her best to reset herself and regain her dignity with some medical knowledge. "Technically, anyone- hic-kop!"

As Jayce burst out laughing even harder, it was clear Dahlia's attempt had failed.

xXxXx

No matter what anyone says, not all laughter is created equal.

There's the laughter of derision, where those who laugh clearly believe they are better than those who are laughed at. There is the laughter of fear, where disbelief fuels a spasmodic, gasping laugh when those laughing have no other recourse or action. Then there is the most terrifying, the laugh of the insane. The laugh that haunts the mind, because it is not rooted in emotion or humor, but in a false reality that is presumed to be true. That is the kind of laughter found in nightmares.

However, nothing is more sweet or purifying than a laugh of pure joy. The laughter of young children or great friends can wash away even the darkest of moods, often prompting those who listen to join in. It was this laughter that woke Bera at the dawn of the Hazel Festival.

Bera sat up and stretched, careful to move slowly after drinking so much last night. She rubbed her eyes, leaned back on her hands, and sighed contentedly as she noticed Gauth, propped up against the back wall. Even in his most relaxed state, the muscles in his arms and chest were prominent, and Bera took her time letting her eyes wander over his form.

After allowing herself a momentary distraction, Bera hopped down from her bed and pulled her bag from under it. Time for her daily routine! She pulled out a mirror and comb, fought with her hair as much as her curls would allow, tied it back with the headscarf made by her me-maw, and applied a little rouge to her cheeks and lips. Just a touch, to look both natural and sweet. A little dab of black eyeliner on the outside edges of her eyelids made her eyes look larger and rounder, which worked in her favor if she had to pretend to be a child again. She rolled the rouge over her lips one last time and made a soft popping sound toward the mirror to make sure everything was even before she packed that away.

Next, she pulled out a small calendar book and the lead pencil tucked inside. Upon checking the date, she sighed in annoyance. The batch of mead that was still fermenting needed another week before it was ready to stabilize and decant, so the wares she had available wouldn't get a well needed boost for at least two months yet. Even so, whatever bottles she could sell now would be gold in her pocket for more bottles and honey, so it wasn't a total loss. She just wished she could have managed to grab more before she ran off.

Bera put away the calendar and pulled out a festive top from her small bag and gave it a quick once over. The ruffled sleeves flared out near the quarter length, and cinched at the elbow to exaggerate the movements of the arms when she moved. It was very pretty, but the weather outside was quite chilly, so it wasn't the best option to wear.

However, layering was the art of the prepared. Bera ducked her hand back into her bag and pulled out a thin, long-sleeved sweater she could wear under the top, and a dark blue-green corset with silver clasps down the front. A set of black leggings and purple boots with a similar silver trim completed the outfit.

"Not the most coordinated…" she mumbled, "but it'll do." Bera quickly checked that both Gauth and Al were still asleep before she quickly stripped off her travel clothes to put on her more decorated performance outfit. As soon as she finished and checked the lacing on the corset and boots were solid, she glanced back at the sleeping men and was briefly disappointed the larger of the two wasn't secretly watching her.

With a shrug, she shoved her travel clothes and boots into her bag, shouldered it, and pulled out her chanter made of black ebony wood. Bera contemplated the wisdom of waking them to the squawking of a chanter after a night of heavy drinking, and then thought better of it and replaced it with her lyre instead.

"Good morn-ing, good morn-ing…!" she sang, plucking a soft harmony on the instrument braced on her hip. "You slept the whole night through…!"

Al groaned, rolled over to his back, and slapped the pillow over his face. Gauth, on the other hand, briefly startled, blinked his bleary eyes, and yawned as he stretched. Bera continued her little melody and sent Gauth a wink as soon as he accidentally made eye contact with her.

Gauth ever-so-slightly blushed as he looked away, his expression clearly awkward. Bera smiled to herself and inwardly celebrated slowly winning him over.

"So! Now that we're awake," Bera said with a smile as she put the lyre back in her bag. "Today is the Hazel Festival! Let's get our bodies downstairs and fed so the hangover lets up and we can go have fun!"

"You, uh, look very pretty today," Gauth said. He quickly cleared his throat afterward but said nothing else.

"Why, thank you!" Bera said with genuine gratitude. "I wish I could say I got all gussied up for you, but truth is today's a gold day for me. The better I look, the more gold I get, so there you go."

"Ah." Gauth nodded. "Now I understand."

"You dressed up?" Al mumbled weakly through the pillow. "Why?"

"Did you not hear me say today was the Hazel Festival?!" Bera laughed. "Gods above, you must've drunk your weight and then some last night!"

Al hugged the pillow to his face and growled something incomprehensible into it, so Bera just shrugged, flipped her hair over her shoulder and turned to the door with a sway of her hips.

"Coming, giant?" she purred over her shoulder.

Gauth sighed and stood up to his full height. "Bera, why do you act this way to me?"

Bera twitched as she was briefly caught off guard, and then turned and settled herself back into her natural stance. "What do you mean?"

Gauth pinched the bridge of his nose and grunted in frustration. "I am not a child, Bera, but I do not understand Tal'Dorein well enough to explain. I know you treat me different from Al or...anyone, so tell me why."

Bera sighed. Flirting was no fun if it was overt. "It's because you're sexy, Gauth. I think you're attractive."

Gauth pulled a face that was halfway between disgust and utter shock.

"And there we go…" Bera grumbled, her hand on her face. "It's because I'm small, isn't it?"

"Bera...you are the same as a child. That's what I see when I see you. I don't want to think of you...that way," Gauth said, his stance shifting to close off from her.

Bera rolled her eyes, turned toward the door with a huff, opened it, and left the room. "Can't stop me from ogling you!" she called out as she stepped into the hall.

Unfortunately for Gauth, his voice carried into the hall as she closed the door. "Uh, Al, what's 'ogling'?"

Bera stifled a laugh under her breath as she imagined Al trying to explain that one.

As she passed, the door to her right rattled, giving her just a second of warning before Zoe appeared in the hallway.

"Morning!" Zoe beamed. "You look nice, Bera! Excited for the festival?"

"Of course I am!" Bera smiled back, her experience with Gauth pushed away for the moment to make her smile more genuine. "If I can draw enough of a crowd, I can make a good bit of coin on a day like this!"

A look of realization washed over Zoe. "Ooh! Good point! Man, today's gonna be nuts for you!"

"And you say I talk funny," Bera giggled. "But yes, today's 'gonna be nuts'."

Jonathan groaned in the room behind Zoe and Bera tried to glance around her. "Uh, is John okay? He had quite a lot during that contest last night."

Zoe puffed through her lips and waved it off. "Nah, he'll be fine. Just gotta get him some water and something greasy to eat. They had buttered potatoes yesterday; I was thinking of grabbing that."

"Oh that sounds good!" Bera said brightly. She felt hungry just thinking of hot potato hash fried in fresh butter. "And speaking of last night...did I do anything particularly embarrassing? I don't remember a single thing after we apparently won the game. I don't even remember how that happened, to be honest!" she laughed.

Zoe bit back a mischievous grin and only managed to make herself look more conspicuous. "Well, you...uh, shall we say, got really friendly with Gauth last night."

Bera cocked an eyebrow and crossed her arms with a smirk of her own. "Really? Let me guess, couldn't get my hands off him."

Zoe sputtered a laugh but recovered. "Oh yeah. Wrapped around his leg and called him your...snuggly snoofle-puff or something."

Bera rolled her eyes and chuckled. "I can get pretty handsy when drunk. What can I say? I wasn't kidding when I said I like 'em tall."

Zoe shrugged and leaned on the doorframe. "Don't let me stop you. Honestly I'd think it'd be weird to need a stepladder anytime I wanted to kiss someone, but that's just me."

"I happen to enjoy mountaineering," Bera said with a wink.

"You are shameless and I like you," Zoe laughed. Just then, Jonathan meekly whined for food, so Zoe stepped into the hallway and closed the door behind her. "Better get something for John. He's pretty hungover."

"Sounds like a plan. Have any birds whistled about Jayce and Dahlia yet?" Bera asked. "Couldn't help but notice they shared a room last night."

Zoe rolled her eyes this time and began walking down the hallway, and of course her gait was large and spry enough that Bera nearly had to jog to keep up. "Yeah, well, that doesn't mean anything between those two."

"How you figure?" Bera asked.

"Jayce doesn't seem like the type to recklessly flirt with people, and apparently Al found out, somehow, that Dahlia hates sex," Zoe said flatly. "I mean, I'm not the prettiest girl on the block, but I've had a fair share, and then some, of assholes trying to feel me up just for having tits. Jayce isn't that kind of guy, and Dahlia clearly trusts him with that whole 'don't touch me' thing she's got."

Bera was quiet for a moment as they traversed the stairs. "Huh. I can't tell if she had a really bad lay or just isn't the type for it."

"You should've seen her when we first met," Zoe chuckled. "She was so wrapped up, I couldn't even see her neck or wrists. Even wore a bandage over her eyes."

"Oof. Sounds like trauma to me," Bera mumbled.

"Yeah, well, whatever it is, it means she's practically off the market," Zoe said with a shrug. "I mean, I'm all for a cuddly girlfriend, but I draw the line at abstinence."

"Pretty fond of physical intimacy, huh?" Bera grinned.

"Oh hells yeah. I'm a horny bitch," Zoe smirked.

As they had reached the bar, Zoe immediately cut the conversation and turned to the barkeep to order breakfast. Bera took the time to glance over the tables, and due to her height, she was unable to pick out any faces near the back of the room. With a grunt of annoyance, she grabbed a nearby barstool and clambered up, and was shocked to see Jayce and Dahlia already seated and eating.

Even more puzzling was Jayce's head in his hands, his eyes misty with tears, and a goofy grin plastered across his face as the man tried desperately to catch his breath. Dahlia had her forehead on the table and both arms covering her head in...Bera assumed embarrassment, but it could have been frustration.

Dahlia twitched and Bera barely heard something that almost sounded like a pop, and Jayce nearly folded in half from a nearly failed attempt to suppress laughter. Dahlia whipped out a fist and smacked his arm before once again hiding under her sleeves.

Maybe it was both.

Bera giggled to herself and, more curious than cautious, hopped down from the bar stool and made her way over to the two of them, where she could barely pick up Dahlia whining something into the table.

"-and it's starting to hurt, so please stop laughing!" Dahlia pleaded.

"Okay okay! I'll stop!" Jayce wheezed. He rubbed tears from laughter away with the heel of his hand. "Oh! Mornin', Bera."

"Good morning!" Bera said brightly as she hopped into a chair and sat on her knees. "What's got you in such a giddy mood?"

Jayce opened his mouth to speak and a loud "Hic-kop!", vaguely muffled through the table, erupted next to him. Bera stared in shock as blue sparks flashed from the gaps between Dahlia's head and arms.

Jayce pressed a hand to his face with such a tense smile that Bera could almost hear him think, "I promised not to laugh, I promised not to laugh" over and over again.

"Ah," Bera said, her own smile threatening to crack across her face and give her own mirth away. "Well, everyone gets hiccups. Not always with blue sparks though."

"It's the medicine," Jayce snickered. "Apparently it causes hiccups if there ain't a sickness to cure."

"Oh! That's good news then!" Bera smiled. "That means you never had ghoul fever."

"Yay…" Dahlia whined into the table.

"What would've happened if you did have it?" Bera asked.

Dahlia finally picked up her head but she looked like a puppy who had been kicked for asking for food. "Well, I would have had accelerated symptoms, but it would have culminated in expelling corrupted material from my gastric system or from the direct wound. That should have been my first clue this morning that I needlessly took the medication."

"Dahlia, sweetheart, please speak Dorein this early in the morning," Bera said through a strained smile. "I'm a tad hungover to untangle those weeds."

"Basically, she's sayin' if she did get sick, the medicine would've made her vomit or bleed to get the crap out," Jayce said, as he had finally recovered from his laughing fit. "Gotta say, hiccups ain't too bad as an alternative."

Bera winced at the implication as Dahlia buried her face in her hands again and whined in embarrassment.

"Order up!"

Zoe placed a plate of hot, steaming potatoes glistening with fried butter and speckled with savory herbs in front of Bera. Bera immediately rubbed her hands together in excited anticipation and grabbed a piece of potato without thinking.

"Ow! That's hot!" she yelped.

"Well, yeah, they're fresh," Zoe giggled.

"Hey, where's my order?" Jayce asked, clearly teasing.

"Nah, I only deliver to standing members of the shameless flirt club. You got a membership card?" Zoe teased back.

"Aw, damn, left it in my other bag," Jayce snickered. "Yer in a good mood this mornin'."

"Hells yeah!" Zoe beamed, a second plate of buttered potatoes in her hands. "It's Hazel Festival! I'm gonna run up and feed Jonathan, then I'll be right back down. We got the day off, right?"

Jayce sighed and rubbed his face. "Not yer boss, Zoe."

"I'm seriously gonna start calling you 'not-yer-boss' if you keep that up," Zoe laughed as she walked away.

"I have to say, I'm kind of surprised you're not jumping at the chance to lead," Bera said between quick bites of very hot potatoes. "You're already in charge of the coin, and you have a voice that people listen to."

Jayce grimaced so quickly and subtly that Bera almost questioned if she really had just seen that. Something about leadership clearly sat badly with Jayce, which was likely why he had been refusing to flat out lead the group, despite having registered them with the Tal'Dorein Defenders just over a week ago.

However, Jayce recovered incredibly quickly and just shrugged. "More fond of the democracy idea, that's all."

Bera watched him closely. Jayce had crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, his fingers tense enough to strain his dark gloves. Despite his face being so relaxed and care-free, his body was telling her a completely different story.

Bera knew she wouldn't get anything out of him by just probing; Back in Westruun, Jayce had proved he was more than capable of playing the part he wanted others to see. If she wanted to sate her curiosity, she would have to be much more subtle in her attempts.

"Ah. Well, in that case, I vote for a day off," Bera beamed. Her chances would be much better if she never gave him any clue that she had noticed he wasn't being completely truthful.

"I do t- hic-kop!"

Blue sparks showered the table and harmlessly petered out of existence as Dahlia pulled the collar of her coat over her face. Jayce balled both hands into fists as his face telegraphed the extreme desire to laugh at the interruption.

"And that's three," Jayce said, clearly fighting to keep his tone even. "I'm also for a day off. We fuckin' deserve it, after that graveyard fight."

"Hear hear!" Bera beamed, her hand holding aloft an imaginary beer mug. "To more amicable adventures at the festival!"

Dahlia hiccuped again before Jayce could state his agreement to the cheer, and Bera expressed her sympathies for Dahlia's pride as Jayce muffled his laughter into his sleeve.

xXxXx

"Not even one bottle?"

The festive decorations of red, orange, and gold, accented with wreaths made of fallen colored leaves and bundles of wheat, could not distract Al from his hangover as the assembled team made their way along the main thoroughfare of Turst Fields. Bouncy, excited tunes washed over crowds as several groups of local musicians all vied for attention, drawing crowds by being louder or flashier than their neighbors. Bera giggled as Al winced every time a nearby flutist hit a particularly high note in their song.

"She already said no, Al," Jayce sighed. "Look, I get it; you're hungover and it's loud and bright out here. So is Bera, Gauth, and John, and you don't see them bitchin', do you?"

Al, his face gaunt and pale, turned to look at the three people who had been called out, and saw that they did in fact look fine. Jonathan was taking things a bit slow, of course, by leaning on his sister, but Gauth and Bera were each eating a cinnamon roll drenched in caramel sauce instead of the usual sugar icing. The pastries were so fresh and warm that steam wafted across their faces, and Gauth, eyes locked on Al, slowly shoved the remaining majority of the cinnamon roll into his massive mouth and began to chew the entire thing as if it was barely a mouthful.

Al's eyes narrowed as Bera, again, giggled. She beamed and teasingly said, "I agree, Gauth. Al should've bought his own sticky bun."

"I don't want sweets right now," Al grumbled.

"Food will help, Al," Dahlia said kindly. She then hiccuped another spray of blue sparks and sighed in defeat.

"Any idea when that's gonna wear off?" Jayce asked. The humor had long since bled out of the situation and now his voice was full of genuine concern.

"Your guess- hic-kop! -is as good as mine," Dahlia wheezed. "Probably when I've hiccuped all the- hic-kop! -magic out."

"I'm just surprised at how loud they are!" Zoe snickered. "You literally shake."

Instead of responding, Dahlia buried her face in her hands again as she hiccuped.

"Okay, enough about the damn hiccups," Jayce cut in, more out of sympathy than any other reason. "We got our pastries, an' we're hittin' the well to fill canteens before we head out. Who wants to do what after that?"

"Oh! Eating contest! Definitely eating contest!" Zoe cut in. "They've gotta have one, right? Pies or cake?" she asked, looking more at her brother than the others.

"Like I have the experience to guess," Jonathan snickered. "Um...I'll say pies."

Puffpaw, across his shoulders as usual, chirruped her approval of his guess.

"Yeah, pie makes sense," Zoe smiled. "So, anyone else?"

"I want to join the eating contest!" Gauth said with a giant smile. It was clear he was excited for the food, although the idea of a competition was also tempting to him.

"My money's on the giant then," Bera giggled.

"Oh don't count me out yet!" Zoe said with a wink. "Let's go look for the eating contest!"

With a goal at hand, they made their way through the crowd, stopping at the well for water and then at a blacksmith's stall to buy a nice dagger for Dahlia. As they made their way deeper into the festivities, hawkers began calling out various games and contests, ranging from a mundane arm wrestling competition to roped-off game areas with lines of people waiting their chance to play. A popular game was called "Trebuchet", which involved standing with the target behind the player, and throwing a bag of sand over the player's head to land in a basket. Zoe, unreasonably excited to play, punched Jayce in the arm to get his attention.

"Hey! Jayce, you wanna play?" Zoe smiled. "Bet ya I'll get the bag in the basket before you do!"

"And if I get it in first try?" Jayce smirked.

Bera suddenly had a thought and laughed. "I'll bet a whole gold coin Dahlia could get it in better'n you two!"

Jayce and Zoe stopped dead in their tracks and glanced at Dahlia, who unfortunately had ended up between them. Her cheeks immediately tinged pink and she ducked her head.

"I-I don't even know the game," Dahlia said meekly.

"It's easier'n pie, Dahlia," Bera said brightly. "You throw a sandbag backwards over your head to land it in a bucket. Since whoever's playing is throwing blind anyway, you'd have the advantage of knowing how to throw blind in the first place!"

"That's actually a good point…" Zoe mumbled.

"And now I want to see this," Al cut in.

Jayce tapped Dahlia's arm, once again on the elbow. She barely twitched but did face him as Jayce asked if she wanted to play.

Bera tilted her head in minor confusion. They had to be in love; she couldn't figure out any other reason for why they treated each other with such kindness and respect. And yet, the most intimate she had seen either of them go was a hug. Even then, Dahlia usually kept her arms close to her chest, as if to put a buffer between the two of them. Just what kind of trauma kept them apart?

Bera made a silent promise to herself that, should the need arise, she would play matchmaker for those two. After all they had gone through together, even facing off the collected might of the former Margrave of Westruun, they deserved some happiness.

"I...guess I could play?" Dahlia responded. "I don't think I can go first though. I don't even know where the target would be."

"But how could you know?" Gauth asked. "You are blind. You can't look for it."

Dahlia shook her head. "No, but if someone makes a loud noise right above or next to the basket, I could get a good idea of where it was in relation to me."

Gauth nodded as if that made perfect sense, and Bera had another idea.

"I'll get close and play one of my instruments. Just, ya know, don't hit me," she giggled.

"I will do my very best," Dahlia said with a nervous smile.

Zoe clapped her hands together and beamed. "Then it's settled! I go first, then Jayce, then Dahlia. Let's see who's the better trebuchet!"

The three of them quickly got in line, with Jayce almost pulling Dahlia along. Thankfully, there had been a lull in interest for the game, so they only had to wait for three locals to give the game a try before it was their turn. Two men both gave solid efforts, but never managed to land the bag in the basket, and the young woman just ahead of them was actually there to let her young daughter give it a shot. The older man running it moved the basket closer and helped the small child play by holding her and lifting her almost over his head when she tossed the bag. Of the three, she got the closest, and unlike the men, she got a consolation prize of a small hazelnut cookie.

Zoe dashed into the play area as soon as it was her turn. "Okay! What's the prize, and how many chances do I get?" she said, giddy with excitement.

"You got this!" Jonathan yelled from the edge.

The man snickered and shifted the basket back into place. "A carrot cake, and three bags. You get something special if you get it in on the first try. Just give me a moment to pick these up, then you use those off to the side there."

"Yep! Got it!" Zoe said as she dashed to drag over her three bags. The second it was clear and the man whistled for her to begin, she grabbed the first bag, pinched it across the middle like she had seen the others do, and tried to toss it over her head backwards.

Her first attempt hit with a thud, and the crowd hissed in empathetic pain as Zoe turned to realize it barely went halfway. Frustrated, she grabbed the second one and did exactly the same, with as much force as she could muster. Again, the crowd made the sound of disappointment as Zoe checked her progress. Closer, but also off to the right.

Zoe glanced over to the side, where Jonathan was cheering her on, and to lift her spirits, he was also holding Puffpaw out in front of him, and she nearly burst out laughing at the sight. Puffpaw was the picture of ridiculous, with her eyes cross-eyed and her tongue sticking out in something Zoe liked to call "blep face".

Now unable to harness the anger at nearly losing, Zoe let go too early of the third and final sandbag and it barely got farther than her first throw. The old man took a long drag of his pipe and sighed. "Good try, miss. Maybe you'll get it next time."

"Oh you bet I will!" Zoe called out. She turned to step out when the man yelled to get her attention.

"Two copper, for the game," the man said, a hand out as he stepped forward. "And next time, pay first."

"Oh! Whoops," Zoe mumbled, embarrassed. She dug into her coin pouch but only found one copper coin. "Uh, silver okay?" she asked.

"I got it!" Jonathan chirped as he stumbled over the rope. "Here, I've got a gippy too."

With their coppers combined, the man was satisfied and went to clean up the three bags strewn about the area. Zoe punched her brother in the arm as they stepped back over the rope.

"Ow! What was that for?" he yelped.

"For distracting me!" Zoe said, her voice growling but without any anger behind it. "I could've made it but you made Puffpaw all goofy and I laughed too hard to throw properly!"

"If that's your excuse, this'll be easy," Jayce said with a smirk as he stepped in. He handed two copper coins to the man and grabbed the first of three bags, and spared a wink and a cocky smile when Zoe stuck out her tongue at him.

Jayce squared his hips and gripped the bag like Zoe before him, and heaved it over his head awkwardly. It flew about halfway before thudding to the ground.

"Ha!" Zoe jeered. "No better'n me!"

"That's my first fuckin' throw! I still got two more t' beat ya!" Jayce laughed. He grabbed the second bag and heaved it as hard as he could, and it went sailing over his head and across the play area…where it landed about two feet past the basket.

The old man clapped. "Bit too far there, but not bad!"

"Fuckin' damn it all," Jayce mumbled. Zoe continued to jeer at him while the rest of the crowd clearly got excited that someone might make it into the basket. Jayce grabbed the last bag and huffed as he settled himself in and got ready to throw.

"Go Jayce! You got this!" Dahlia called out.

Inspired, Jayce threw it again, trying to mitigate his strength just enough to land it in the basket. Unfortunately, it once again flew too far, but only barely. The bag hit the far lip of the basket and tipped it over as it came in for a landing.

"Ha yourself!" Jayce cheered. "I fuckin' hit the basket, Zoe!"

"Yeah but it didn't go in!" Zoe called back.

Bera glanced over at Dahlia, curious how she would react to the game. To her surprise, Dahlia and Jonathan were in a deep but quiet conversation about something, and Jonathan was tracing something in Dahlia's palm. Bera scooted a step closer to listen in.

"...the fulcrum, which moves along this point to pivot and fling the payload. On this side is the counterweight," Jonathan whispered.

"Okay, so that means...okay. Got it! Thank you!" Dahlia said with a bright smile. Jonathan blushed in response and mumbled a thanks, and Bera smiled like a fool at the thought of actually getting a gold piece from Zoe and Jayce each.

Bera turned back to the play area and leaned on the rope, as it was practically at her shoulders anyway. Jayce had just handed another two copper over to the man and then jogged over to the ropes to help Dahlia over.

"Now just t' be clear, she's blind," Jayce called out over his shoulder. The man waved that he understood, and then moved the sandbags closer to the line.

Jayce quickly showed Dahlia where to find the sandbags and went over the rules, and she nodded that she understood. Bera watched closely while Jayce jogged to the basket and whistled to help her gauge the distance; after all, if Dahlia had been asking exactly what a trebuchet was, she would have come up with some sort of plan to work the weight of the sandbags to her advantage.

Dahlia struggled to pull a sandbag off the top of the pile and dragged it to the line, which was a rope staked into the ground with wooden nails. Facing away from the basket, she took one step back from the rope, keeping her left foot on the rope and the bag between her feet, held just by the top corners.

"What're you doing?" the man called out.

"Acting like a trebuchet!" Dahlia called back, her face in a large smile. She heaved forward, using the momentum of stepping beyond the rope with her right foot to help her pull the sandbag forward, up, and over her head, where it sailed in a nearly perfect arc to land with a crackly thud in the wicker basket at the end of the roped off lane.

The crowd burst into cheers, astounded and awed that a blind woman had made it on her first throw. The old man nearly dropped his pipe in shock as Bera screamed with excitement and joy that her friend just upstaged two rather strong individuals who could barely hit the basket on their own attempts.

Bera glanced at the two of them. Zoe stood there, slack jawed, and Jayce had his own look of shock at the end of the lane next to the wicker basket. Dahlia, also surprised, turned several times in confusion until Al hopped the ropes and explained she just won the game.

"Are you serious?! I won?!" she squealed.

"I'm dead serious!" Al laughed. "Holy shit you actually got it on your first try!"

The man walked over to the two of them and held out an orange sphere. "Here, your prize."

"What's this?" Al asked. He took it for Dahlia and then placed it in her hands himself.

"It's an orange," the man said with a shrug. "Came from Marquet. Pretty rare to see one around here."

"Huh," Al said.

"And...what's an orange?" Dahlia asked. She sniffed the round fruit in her hand and looked surprised that it smelled so pleasant. "I'm sorry, I've just never heard of one before."

"It's a fruit," the man said with a smile. "You enjoy it. You've earned it."

Bera nearly laughed as Jayce, clearly familiar with the fruit, bolted to Dahlia and stopped her from taking a bite right there in the middle of the lane. As the three of them walked back to the rest of the group, Bera smiled as Jayce explained what an orange was.

"And the outer skin here, yeah it smells good, but it's fuckin' bitter as shit and you'd think the whole fruit was nasty," Jayce said as he helped her over the rope. "You gotta peel it first."

"What a rude fruit!" Dahlia responded with a frown, her nose crinkled in disgust. Although Jayce managed to stop himself from laughing at the rather adorable expression, Al did not, and had to suppress the laugh into his arm before Dahlia caught on that she was the cause.

"It ain't that uncommon with tropical fruit," Jayce responded, his voice a little shaky from the restrained chuckle. "I've had more'n my fair share over the years, so let's say I'm an old hand. Here, I'll peel it for you."

Jayce gently took the orange from Dahlia's hand and deftly dug into the peel with his thumb, selecting the thinnest area of the rind quickly enough to prove his experience with the fruit. While the others watched in fascination as he revealed an alien orb coated in white webbing, Bera noted Jayce had slipped one chunk of the rind into his coat pocket, and he made efforts to involve Dahlia in the process. Rather than hug the fruit to one's stomach, like anyone exerting effort upon a similar task would do to focus their efforts, he deliberately handicapped himself by holding it out within Dahlia's reach and so she could smell the fruit as he worked.

Finally, all that remained was the plump, segmented orb, its wedges hidden behind that strange white webbing left behind from the pith and peel. Jayce took an extra moment to remove as much of the webbing as possible before he pulled off one wedge and held it out to Dahlia.

"Here, this's what you're meant to eat. Tell me what you think," he said with an excited smile.

Dahlia had to wave her hand a little to find the exact location of Jayce's hand, but even with Jayce's kindness, she hesitated when she finally touched the supposed treat. "What's...it supposed to taste like?" she asked.

"Eh, a little sour, a little sweet, depends on the fruit. Pretty sure this one's sweet though," Jayce said with a shrug.

"Now I wanna try one!" Zoe cut in, already reaching for what remained of the orb. Jayce immediately pulled it out of her reach and wagged a finger.

"Ah-ah-ah, no, Zoe, she gets first taste. She earned it," Jayce chided.

Dahlia winced and the hand holding the wedge of fruit nearly dropped. "I-I actually did win, right? I must've gotten lucky or something. I don't win things. It must've been a mistake-"

"Whoa whoa whoa! What the hell?" Al said quickly. "We all saw that bag go flying through the air and land straight in the basket. Even if that was a mistake, that was damn lucky and you still won!"

"Al's right; we all saw it," Jonathan added. "Besides, I should be thanking you! Now I can tease my sister for throwing worse than a blind person!"

Zoe huffed in indignation and punched her brother's arm in warning, and the ensuing laughter finally broke the tension. Now that everyone was smiling again, Bera was shocked to realize she had held her breath during that whole exchange. She paused for a moment and blinked in shock. Did she actually like these people?

Finally, Dahlia finally took a bite of the wedge of orange.

Jayce watched her face closely with excitement, and Bera noted how his hand free hand drifted near her. "So? How's it taste?" he asked.

"It...tastes like sunshine…" Dahlia whispered, her voice full of gleeful emotion. She finished the wedge and a broad smile overtook her face as she chewed. "It's amazing!"

"Oh come on, this is killing me!" Zoe whined. She was practically bouncing. "Are you gonna share or not?!"

"Absolutely! Everyone try some!" Dahlia said brightly.

Jayce dutifully handed out wedges of the orange and dropped one into Bera's hand. Confused, she looked up at him.

"Hang on, I don't need any. I'm just hanging around until Whitestone, remember?" she said to Jayce. "We're not friends."

Jayce rolled his eyes. "Bullshit. You've been through hell for, and with, us, and a slice of orange's a fuckin' low price to pay for all that. If you really weren't one of us, you would've stayed in town when we went monster huntin' yesterday."

"Yeah, that's...fair," Bera mumbled. Truthfully, she was worried she would have run into more trouble in town, and she had to admit, having tallins around to ward off trouble was effective. Time to change the subject. "Speaking of what you 'owe' me, I believe there was some gold on the table if a blind woman made a basket."

Bera locked eyes with both Jayce and Zoe, the latter of whom sported a rather impressive impression of a chipmunk from the two orange wedges she had snagged, and Bera held out her hand with an expectant smirk. Zoe looked completely blank and Jayce sighed and rubbed his face.

"Pretty sure we never shook on it," Jayce grunted.

"Oh don't be a sore loser," Bera teased. "It's just a gold piece. Each."

Begrudgingly, the two of them handed over the gold, and Bera happily pocketed the coins before she tossed the orange wedge triumphantly into her mouth. Her eyes suddenly bugged out in shock, and she turned toward the much taller people around her.

"Holy crap it actually does taste like sunshine!"

They all shared a laugh as they walked away, and Gauth took the opportunity to herd them all toward a stall with fresh, still steaming pies. Behind them, a young man attempted Dahlia's exact technique in Trebuchet, except he managed to take out his own leg when he swung the bag and landed hard on his back. Those who followed agreed that Dahlia's special technique was probably best left to the blind.

xXxXx

What had started as a perusal of pies turned into a rousing greeting between friends as Elena and Orry, running one of the many stalls on the thoroughfare, immediately recognized most of the team and called out to them from down the lane, waving their hands and hooting at the top of their lungs. Puffpaw, recognizing another opportunity for copious amounts of pampering, leapt off Jonathan's shoulders and raced over, alighting on top of the stall table with incredible grace just seconds before Elena scooped her up and cuddled her. Orry laughed heartily as the others jogged to catch up, his face rosy and round this time from the cold instead of beer.

"Happy Hazelfest!" Orry laughed, and he spared a second to scritch Puffpaw under the chin. "Good to see you all! How's the hangover?"

"The worst…!" Al groaned, which elicited laughter from the others.

"Sorry for jumpin' in, but I'm a mite lost," Jayce chuckled as he stepped forward and held out his hand. "The name's Jayce, and that there is Dahlia the Blind. I take it y'all is why these assholes were drunker'n a fish dropped in a grog barrel last night."

Orry clasped Jayce's hand firmly and gave it a hearty shake. "That we are! Played a rousing game of Blind Drunk Dash last night, which your pals heartily won! Can't remember much, but I do remember not even getting a single point last night."

"You're gonna have to explain this game to me, sir," Jayce said with a broad smile. "Sounds like a grand ol' time!"

Orry clapped him on the shoulder and gestured to the pies. "Maybe some other time, sir. We'll be closing down in a minute to host the pie eating contest, so if you want a pie, it's gotta be now. And because you're all friends, I'll honor my wife's promise of a discount if the cat came along."

"Good!" Elena quipped, Puffpaw still hugged to her chest. "Otherwise I'd accuse you of being catty!"

There was a quick laugh and groan, the latter of which came mostly from Al, as they listened to Elena present the different types of pies available. They had a good mix of fruit and dinner pies, ranging from rhubarb with a caramel crumble top to an extra deep beef stew pot pie, but then she turned and presented six deep, massive pies, more than a foot across and half as deep, and beamed with pride.

"And these are Apple Stuffin' Pies, the very pies for the eating contest coming up!" She glanced over them all, her eyes landing on a very excited Guath, who was making no effort to hide his desire to devour the pie. "And we have a few seats left, if you want to join. You'll be facing off against Slalznir Dustpaw, and fair warning, he's been the winner five years in a row."

"Well this year he's gonna lose!" Bera announced as she shoved her way forward. She looked right up at Elena, who was still holding Puffpaw. "How much is the buy-in?"

"Are we gonna see that famous halfling constitution?" Zoe teased.

Bera shook her head. "Nope. I'm buying two seats. One for Gauth, and one for Zoe."

"I have money," Gauth said quickly.

"And I know how much you like apple pastries," Bera said sweetly, smiling at him. "After all, you name horses after something you love, right?"

Gauth winced and looked away in annoyance, and Bera grumbled under her breath. It wasn't clear if he was annoyed at her or himself, but either way, she just had to wear him down somehow. Nothing to do but keep trying, and eventually he would stop seeing her as a child.

"Thanks in advance!" Zoe chirped, and then turned to Elena. "So how much for the seats?" she asked brightly.

"Oh, it's a tad much, three silver, but it's no worse than a room at an inn," Elena said awkwardly. It was clear she didn't want to imply that it was prohibitively expensive. "Two of the coins go into the pot, and the winner takes the pot if they finish the pie first."

"Done." Bera pulled out the coins and held it out to Elena. "Two seats for the contest!"

"Oh! I don't take the coins," Elena almost stammered, trying to back away from the money. "That goes to the mayor, Sir Kalen, who is waiting by the bonfire at the crossroad."

With that information at hand, and after the purchase of an apple blackcurrant pie for the others to snack on, Gauth, Zoe, and Jayce helped Orry take the pies to the contest. Jonathan lingered a moment because Puffpaw was being stubborn about following, but eventually everyone was headed to the center of town, where people were dancing around a large bonfire in the center of the main crossroads. Nearly the entire eastern half of the crossroads was overtaken with stalls and vendors specifically from the Hazel House, selling their wares and pastries to anyone who would stop by.

Underneath a banner advertising the pie eating contest, a grey-haired man with an orange and red sash smiled warmly and talked brightly to several others, a human woman who was as skinny as a rail and a rotund halfling man who the others recognized. Al immediately perked up and jogged over.

"Fucker! Good to see you!" he beamed.

"Ah! Al, was it?" Faulkner laughed. "I remembered it sounded a bit like 'ale', which you definitely drank a lot of! You kept pace with me far better than I figured!"

"I'm no lightweight," Al chuckled. "Anyway, you participating in the eating contest?"

"Nah, but Sir Kalen here's a friend of mine," Faulkner said with a smile. "Ain't that right, sir?"

"Please, just Kale," Sir Kalen said with a smile. "Faulkner's been a rather entertaining knot in my plaits for a while now, so we've become friends through our repeated meetings."

"He's trying to say I'm a fuckin' troublemaker," Faulkner laughed. "Not all of that was me, though!"

"You and your brother," Sir Kalen laughed. "Anyway, if you want to sign up for the pie eating contest, you'll have to talk to my son."

Sir Kalen stepped to the side and a young gnoll, barely as tall as Sir Kalen's shoulder, snapped to attention with a clipboard hugged to his chest. "Yes yes sir I'm ready!"

Al looked surprised. "I...was not expecting that."

"He's taking over some of my duties this year," Sir Kalen said with pride. "He may even run for mayor himself one day."

"Yep I'm gonna do my best!" the boy prattled quickly, his face twisted into a look of extreme determination. The young woman laughed and patted the boy on the head.

"And you're doing just great, Simon. I can tell your dad is proud."

Simon beamed with pride and puffed out his chest, and Al briefly saw his own father in Sir Kalen's place, himself in the place of Simon. His heart ached and he forced a smile as soon as he realized his eyes were tearing up.

Something touched his hand and he looked to the side, and then down when he didn't immediately see anyone. Next to him was Bera, her face one of support and concern.

"You okay?" she asked quietly.

Al cleared his throat and turned away. "I'm fine. Talk to the kid if you want to buy those seats for Gauth and Zoe."

Bera patted his hand one last time and then turned to Simon. "You're in charge of the pie eating contest?"

"Yep yep ma'am that's me!" Simon yipped, clipboard and charcoal pencil at the ready. "Are you joining?"

"No, but I'm sponsoring two seats!" Bera beamed. The boy's excitement was infectious. "The lady in blue over there, and the giantkin right next to her. Zoe and Gauth."

"Zoe and...Goth…" Simon said slowly, writing in the names. "Um…" He paused, counting on his fingers until he got up to six. "Six silver, please!"

Bera found him adorable and so beamed with joy as she handed over the six silver coins. "Thank you, young sir! I must say, your father must be a proud man."

"Ah, first, Simon," Sir Kalen cut in, "did you check to see if the seats were available?"

The look of panic on Simon's face made it clear that he did not, and he frantically looked over the clipboard. "Oops! Oh no! Um...Oh! We're okay. That was the last two seats."

Sir Kalen nodded. "Good. Remember to check first next time."

"Yes, Father!" Simon chirped.

Bera just wanted to pinch his cheeks and fluff up the fur on his face for being so cute, but there were other things to do. She turned and waved at the others, of whom Zoe noticed and waved back from dropping off pies on a long, wooden table. Bera turned back to Simon.

"Since you're in charge, Sir Simon, when does the contest start?" she asked sweetly.

Simon rolled his jaw to the side, his brow furrowed in thought. He glanced up at the morning sunshine, then did some mental calculations. With a proud smile, he turned to Sir Kalen.

"Forty minutes, right, Dad?" he grinned.

Sir Kalen pulled out a pocketwatch and smiled with pride. "Indeed it is, boyo. The way you do that never ceases to amaze me."

Simon practically bounced with excited energy as he barely managed to keep himself from squealing. Bera's eyes darted between the father and son in the adopted family and she smiled with joy and relief. A happy, respectful family was so rare to see these days, and it made her miss her own family, back when they were unburdened by misfortune.

Her knuckles tightened across the strap of her bag. The truth of it was, she had to travel much farther than Whitestone, but after everything that group had gone through, she couldn't ask them to follow her into what was sure to be utter hell.

Bera pasted on a tried-and-true crowd-pleasing smile. "Well, if that's the case, we'll be back before the round's up! See you then!"

Simon and Sir Kalen both thanked her before turning back to the thin woman, and Bera headed back to the others, waving over her shoulder at the young gnoll and his human father. She shifted the bag over her shoulder and sighed. "Blood of the covenant, indeed," she mumbled.

"So when are we eating?!" Zoe chirped with such sudden enthusiasm that Bera was completely thrown off guard and she startled backward from Zoe's face. It took Bera a moment to realize she was somehow eye-level with Zoe, who had bent down to talk to her.

"Uh, two- I mean, forty minutes," Bera wheezed, a pained smile on her face. "Oof, you really snapped up on me there."

Zoe shrugged and stood up straight. "Well, you looked pretty lost in thought there. Is it seriously forty minutes though?"

Bera nodded. "That gives us time to check more of the festival, so it's not a total loss. We just need to be back before there's a-"

A short shriek crossed their ears. Dahlia's voice. Everyone whirled toward her, where her arms were up defensively in front of her face, her shoulders nearly to her ears, and the culprit was apparently Jonathan, his own hands up in shock. Bera turned in panic to see Jayce, his protective instinct immediately flaring into rage, and she dove between Dahlia and Jonathan.

"Dahlia, sweetheart, are you okay?" Bera asked quickly but gently, her hands out to physically put space between Dahlia and Jonathan. Bera watched closely as Dahlia shuddered and began rubbing her arms as if they were numb or chilled.

"I-I'm okay," Dahlia wheezed, her face on the verge of crying. "I thought, I thought someone tried to grab me."

"But it was just-!" Jonathan cut in, but Bera whirled on him.

"Jonathan you will shut your mouth or by the might of the Wildmother I will shut it for you!" Bera roared, her voice dumping all her frustration on him in an instant. Jonathan actually took a step back in fear and nearly tripped over Puffpaw in the process.

Bera glanced at Jayce. He was still standing by the contest table, confused but otherwise calm. Good. One crisis averted. Time to nip the next in the bud.

"Dahlia, what would help you right now?" Bera asked as gently as she could. Dahlia's head twisted in an almost exaggerated shake, and Bera wondered if she was fighting some sort of internal battle. Was it against that curse?

"I'm fine," Dahlia huffed, her voice weak as she gripped her arms harder. "I'm sorry I yelled. I shouldn't have made a scene. I'm sorry."

"Sweetheart, it's okay," Bera said. "Here, I'll show you. Jonathan, close your eyes."

"Uh, why?" Jonathan asked, completely confused.

"Just close your eyes," Bera said again, although this time through clenched teeth.

With a sigh of resignation, Jonathan closed his eyes and crossed his arms, settling himself in to just stand in the middle of the street as the rest of the team looked on. Bera exaggeratedly waved in front of him, and once she was convinced he was not peeking, she reached into her bag and pulled out a small scrap of fleece cloth and her lyre.

Using her nail pressed into the cloth, she scratched the length of one string and whispered a short chant, and the strange hum from the string lifted from the lyre and turned into dark green smoke. By the time she had finished her wordless chant, the smoke had formed the shape of a demonic mask, red eyes nearly bugging out of the manufactured visage, that hovered just inches from Jonathan's face.

"Jonathan, I want you to imagine that you're blind, like Dahlia," Bera began. "Imagine you have to rely on your hearing to understand if anyone's coming up behind you, to the side of you, even in front of you. Can you tell who's standing behind you right now?"

Jonathan sighed and gripped his arms with frustration. "There's no one. I can literally tell that there's no one behind me."

Bera grumbled under her breath that he was right but continued. "Okay fine. Now open your eyes."

As soon as he did, Jonathan shrieked in shock and alarm and stumbled backwards, his feet barely catching his weight before he could trip and fall to the ground. Jonathan gripped his coat, just above his heart as he panted and tried to get his breath back.

Al and Gauth, unable to maintain decorum, sputtered out laughs at Jonathan's expense.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Jonathan yelled, his voice uneven as he glared at Bera. Bera, unintimidated, just stood there with her lyre on her hip and matched his glare for one of her own.

"That, Jonathan, is exactly what Dahlia feels every time someone touches her when she doesn't expect them to. She was literally attacked and abducted by someone who grabbed her from behind, someone she never heard coming. I know you want to help her, and I know you want to be good to her, but you will not be someone she turns to until you can understand she cannot rely on your senses to know she's safe!"

Jonathan dropped his gaze and turned away, cowed by Bera's words. Satisfied that he had learned his lesson, Bera dropped the silent image and turned back to Dahlia.

"Dahlia, I'm going to ask again; are you okay?" she asked, her voice warm and soft in contrast to her earlier diatribe at Jonathan.

"I'm fine. Thank you, Bera," Dahlia said with a weak smile. "You actually explained how I feel rather effectively, so thank you for that as well."

"Yeah, well, like I said, I don't miss much," Bera mumbled. She regained her composure and faced the others. "So, now that we're all on the same page again, who wants to go exploring?"

"I already know where I want to go," Gauth cut in. "There, I see a man with a hammer!"

Directly in line with his pointed finger was, indeed, a man with a hammer. As they watched, the man a block away swung the hammer hard upon a plank in front of him, and the plank pivoted across a thick pole laid across the ground and anchored by rope. The other end snapped up instantly, launching a fist-sized rock on a rope directly up toward a bell suspended on a scaffolding. The rope hung from a hook within the bell, usually reserved for the bell's clapper, but that did the man no favors as the rock barely made seven of the ten feet to the bell above his head.

"That is something I can easily win," Gauth said with pride. "I will get my own orange."

Jayce laughed and patted him on the arm. "That's if they're givin' those out, Gauth. As it is, I'd be more surprised if that bell's in one piece once you're done."

Gauth cracked his knuckles and grinned with mischievous excitement. "Let us see then."

With the group's mood recovering on the heels of Gauth's enthusiasm, they followed the giantkin to the loose crowd that surrounded the bell and hammer game. As they approached, a gnoll man had grabbed the hammer and given it a mighty swing of his own, launching the rock upward...but the rock careened to the left hard enough to pull the rope taut and swing in a wide circle, eventually landing once it had tangled itself with the scaffolding pole.

"Oh! Bad luck!" the human man, wearing a breastplate of Shields of the Plains armor, said with a cocky smile as he untangled the rock. "Feel free to try again."

"Nah! It's rigged!" the gnoll growled as he threw the hammer down. "Nobody's gonna hit that damn bell!"

To prove it wasn't rigged, the man in the breastplate reset the rock, stepped over to the hammer, and swung the hammer in a full arch over his head. It landed on the plank with a heavy crack and launched the rock upward with incredible speed. A clattering clang rang out, startling passersby, and the man turned to the gnoll with a smug look on his face.

"Bah! You cheated!" the gnoll spat, making a motion to backhand the man's arm but falling just short in distance. "Game's still rigged."

Bera pushed herself over to the edge of the crowd and watched closely. There had to be a trick to it if the man was able to strike the bell on a single try, but no one else had done so yet. She had to see more players to understand the trick to the game. Bera shoved her way back through the crowd to her friends before someone could volunteer himself too early for her to pick out the secret.

Cocky and beaming, the man turned to the crowd and asked if anyone else wanted to try. Gauth nearly jumped at it, but Bera literally kicked him in the shin to get his attention.

More confused than hurt, Gauth looked down to see Bera motioning for him to come closer. He glanced at the others, but they seemed just as confused as him (except for Dahlia, who was completely oblivious), so he squatted down to her level.

"Okay, hear me out, but don't play yet," Bera said quickly.

"Why?" Gauth asked, his face torn between confusion and disappointment. He was convinced he could win and he wanted to prove it.

"I think that gnoll was right, that the game is rigged," Bera whispered into his ear. She had to stand on her toes to reach, but she thought the lack of volume was prudent. "Problem is, I haven't figured out how yet. Let a few more people play, and I'll tell you how to win."

Gauth gave it a deep thought. If Bera was right, then this was more a game of skill than brute strength; such was a distinction he had to learn if he was going to face off with Stormens Spyd, and have a chance at defeating her. He nodded and picked up Bera so she could more easily see over the crowd.

"Oh! Watch the hands, you brute!" Bera cooed.

"Bera, behave," Gauth grumbled.

Bera giggled at Gauth's light blush but turned her attention back to the hammer game. Sure enough, after seeing the man in the breastplate easily win the challenge, there was no shortage of takers. The first up was a halfling woman, and Bera watched the man closely as he reset the rock on the plank. He was noticeably slower in placing the rock before he stepped back and asked the woman to take her swing.

The woman, clearly someone familiar with hard labor, swung the hammer with gusto, and the rock once again launched into the air. This time, the rock pitched to the right, and although it was only a few inches short of reaching the required height, the angle would have completely missed the target anyway.

The crowd jeered and cheered as was typical of bystanders, and the woman's reaction was just as typical of the expected frustration. Bera pushed it all out of her focus and concentrated on the man in the breastplate. Somehow, he was rigging the contest in his favor.

Sure enough, she watched him size up the next contestant, a young teenager eager to show off to his friends, and he placed the rock on a specific side before he took the teenager's coins and offered him the hammer. In fact, such an act may have slipped by her attention, but when the rock rested so precariously it nearly tipped and the man had to readjust, she realized what he was doing.

Bera turned to Gauth with a big smile. "I got it! Okay, go ahead and get in line. I'll make sure you win!"

Gauth held out his arm and sat Bera on his forearm as if she was a bird or a similar small beast so he could look at her. "First, tell me how. I want to know how he tricks them."

Bera did her best not to swoon at the effortless display of strength and fanned her face a bit to cool down. She grinned at Gauth and purred, "Did I ever tell you-"

"Just tell me how he cheats," Gauth grunted. He dropped his face into his free hand from embarrassment.

Bera rolled her eyes and sighed. "It's simple. The rock isn't perfectly round, so he's using that to his advantage. By placing the rock on different faces, most of the weight of the rock is facing the wrong way to hit the bell, and it pulls the rock in other directions instead of just going straight up. You want to set the rock so the rope knot is facing to the side, not up, like he's been doing for everyone else."

Bera motioned out to the game area, where an older human man was about to take his turn. "See? The knot's facing up, and the rock looks like it'll barely stay on the plank. It's off balance that way."

Sure enough, the man brought down the hammer and the rock careened to the left again, clearly missing the bell even though it would have gotten high enough on that strike. Gauth nodded and set Bera down on the ground.

Gauth cracked his knuckles again and began to stride through the crowd. "Thank you, Bera. Now, I will win."

"Oh I know you will!" Bera said, beaming ear to ear as she followed him. "Now we just need a distraction."

"My ears are burning," Al said suddenly on their right, which caused Bera to jump. Al snickered and crossed his arms. "I saw you two plotting over there. What's the plan?"

"I must place the rock myself so I can win," Gauth smiled.

"But I'll bet you anything that man won't let anyone touch the rock," Bera added, her voice a bit of a mumble as she tried to think through their options.

"Then make that bet," Al said with a shrug.

Bera looked confused, but then intrigued as Al laid out his plan. The pieces set, Gauth walked up to the edge and took in a deep breath before roaring his intentions.

"My turn!"

Nearly everyone in Gauth's proximity jumped and whirled, their faces frozen in panic. Thankfully, the ensuing awkward pause was short-lived. The man in the breastplate coughed and cleared his throat before he switched his intended recipient of the hammer to Gauth and presented both the hammer and a nervous smile to the giantkin. "Uh, yep! Yes, sir! Your turn. Just two- You know what? For you, it's free."

Gauth grinned just like a predator as he took the hammer, Bera right at his heel and hidden from view behind his form. The man turned to check the rock and rope, and right on cue, Al yelled out, "Five gold the giant gets it first try!"

The man's attention snapped to Al at the mention of money. "Ha! I'll take that bet!"

Bera flashed out of Gauth's shadow and deftly shifted the rock's position, the knot facing to the side as the rock settled in its preferred way. As soon as it was in place, she flashed Gauth a wink and a thumb's up before dashing back into the crowd.

Gauth hefted the hammer up, just in time for the man to turn, see what was happening, and shout, "Wait!" with just a fraction of a second to spare before Gauth slammed the hammer down on the plank.

Gauth put so much force into the swing that the rock shot up and the plank bounced off the ground, clattering off the anchored pole as the rock sailed ten feet straight up.

Klang-ang-ang-ang!

The crowd cheered, their hopes for their own attempts bolstered by the incredible display of strength. Gauth turned toward the man, who looked shocked, pale, and afraid, and Gauth nearly saw red. This man had tried to fool these people who only wanted to play a game, and Gauth would not stand for that.

"This man cheated you!" Gauth roared, the hammer still in his hands and threatening to be a weapon. Those nearby screeched in fear and backed away, which only frustrated Gauth more. He was trying to help them!

Thankfully, Al had a better plan. He jumped the rope keeping the crowd at bay and dashed over to the man in the breastplate, loudly demanding his five gold from the bet, and in the chaos, tripped and slammed into the man. Al's intent had been to pickpocket the man, but abandoned the idea as soon as the man made a large show of shoving Al off of himself and protecting his pockets. Insults were slung, Gauth demanded his prize, and finally Al and Gauth removed themselves from the play area, more embarrassed than triumphant, with a warm loaf of cinnamon swirl bread wrapped in a large wool napkin in Gauth's hands.

"He cheats and nobody cares," Gauth grumbled.

Al patted his arm in sympathy. "Well, you beat his cheating, so that's a win in my book."

"I'd rather beat him…" Gauth growled under his breath.

"So what'd you win?" Bera asked brightly as soon as Gauth and Al joined the rest of the group. Gauth held out the bread with a grimace, but brightened slightly as soon as he saw Jonathan and Zoe perk up.

"Hold the fuck up, is that cinnamon bread?" Zoe beamed. "Oh man we gotta crack into that right now! This stuff is amazing with butter on it!"

"And a little sugar," Jonathan mumbled, the memory of sharing buttered cinnamon bread lightly sprinkled with sugar in the company of his beloved aunt and sister on the lawn of his estate, overcoming him at that moment. How he wished he could go back to those days.

"Pretty sure we don't have sugar to spare," Zoe said teasingly, her elbow bumping Jonathan's side. "That said, Gauth, is that for everybody, or just yourself?"

Gauth, his spirits lifted from seeing their excitement, offered the loaf to everyone and the warm bread was broken into pieces to be enjoyed at their leisure. When Zoe managed to snag a second piece, Bera reminded her of the upcoming eating contest, to which Zoe claimed she would be absolutely fine and would probably win.

She was about to literally eat her words.

xXxXx

The cheers of the crowd were deafened slightly by the overpowering sound of a young human man vomiting at the end of the table, and Zoe desperately glanced around for a glass of water. After nearly choking on an errant slice of apple at the beginning of the eating contest, she was clawing through the pie to make up for as much lost time as possible, but her sore throat seemed determined to have other ideas.

Zoe glanced up and down the table. To her left was Gauth, the clear lead of the eating contest so far. She attributed that to his massive mouth and stomach. To her right was the overly skinny woman who was holding her own, a halfling man with a brawler's nose who was right in sync, the vomiting man next to him, and finally an overweight gnoll, the infamous Slalznir Dustpaw, who was chomping along at a strong but steady pace. He noticed her look in his direction and winked, then pulled a goofy cross-eyed expression to amuse and distract her. Zoe grimaced at his attempt and went back to her own pie.

Slalznir's own attempt at distraction worked against him as he paused, confused that Zoe seemed unaffected. He quickly recovered and dived right back into the fray, pastry crumbling under his fingers as warm apple pie filling smeared all over his face.

The halfling man seemed to have met his match, and dropped out of the race by forfeit as he raised his hand. His face was pale as he huffed and puffed, his own constitution failing him. All that remained were Zoe, Gauth, Slalznir, and the surprisingly voracious woman who was probably half the weight of Zoe, even while the woman was soaking wet.

It was a little underhanded, but Zoe needed every advantage she could get. She gulped down a mouthful of air and forced it back up, bleching uproariously loud right into the skinny woman's ear. The woman flinched away, her head whipping back from the shock, and the sudden movement forced the poor woman into a dizzy spell induced by excessively quick ingestion. By the time she had returned to the pie in front of her, Zoe had caught up with Gauth, and Slalznir was in a tentative lead.

Zoe glanced to her left again, and was surprised to notice Gauth was forcing a rather large bite down. From her best guess, he had taken more than he could comfortably chew and was paying the price with lost time. Unfortunately, a glance to her right showed that Slalznir was still in the lead, in comparison to her pie. She refused to give up so easily, despite the pie in front of her looking like a half-slaughtered monster wrapped in flaky crust.

She dug her fingers into the warm filling, the jellied sauce squelching between her fingers as she shoveled more into her mouth. She had to win. She needed to win. Zoe pushed the filling and crackled crust deep into her throat, past the back of her tongue as if she could physically force it directly into her stomach. She swallowed, but the particulate of pie fought back with vengeance, refusing to go down without protest. She blocked her mouth with her fist as it threatened to force its way past her teeth, but she prevailed.

She gasped and glanced about. To her right, Slalznir was nearly finished, his last handful of pie in his palm as it traveled to his lips. Before her, her own pie was nearly an empty shell, a ring of pastry large enough to be a comfortable belt, but what filling remained suddenly looked too intimidating to try. To her left...Gauth successfully swallowed the last chunk of apple pie, the pan in front of him proudly displaying nothing but smears of jam and crumbs.

Zoe hung her head in shame as the mayor of Turst Fields stepped forward and loudly declared Gauth the winner, to screams and cheers of elation from the crowd. Finally, the five year reign of Slalznir Dustpaw had come to an end, and the title of Pie King was once again up for grabs among the locals. Gauth was presented with a wreath of pine branches, placed upon his head, and a bag of silver coins from the pot. Gauth held his head high, the wreath of pine upon it, as the crowd continued to cheer for the newcomer in their small city.

Zoe hung her head in shame. Of course she wouldn't beat a goliath. She grumbled under her breath about how big he was, both his mouth and gut, and how little her chances had been anyway. It would have been more of a surprise if she had won, honestly. She looked at the remaining chunk of pie and wondered if she should devour it as a last hurrah and she reached for it. Unfortunately, a wave of nausea at that exact moment reminded her how full she really was, and she pushed away the pie shell as her stomach gurgled in protest of recent treatment.

She joined the others as Gauth was soaking up praise from their companions, mostly from Al who, clearly, was barely surprised at the result. Jonathan, ever the observant brother, held out his canteen as she approached, a questioning look on his face.

Zoe looked at it, and her hand paused. Dahlia's canteen. It was actually Dahlia's canteen from when they met in Westruun. The home she left behind for her brother.

She looked back up at her brother's face, suddenly overwhelmed by an onslaught of fear. Were they still being hunted? Had they escaped? How far from their father was far enough to keep him safe?

Zoe yanked him into a hug without warning, holding him as close as she dared without cutting off his ability to breath. Jonathan, confused, hesitated before he returned the hug and held her just as close.

"It's okay, Zoe. You can't win everything," he said softly. Puffpaw chirruped in agreement as she rubbed up against her shin, audibly purring.

Zoe felt a lump welling up in her throat, and concerned she'd be caught in a moment of weakness, she shoved her brother away.

"Yeah, well, you always know what to say," she choked. Zoe cleared her throat and did her best to reset herself. She motioned to Gauth dismissively. "Besides, I was up against that bottomless pit of gluttony. I didn't think I'd win anyway."

"You still got close," Jonathan said with a knowing smile. He patted Zoe's arm and turned back to the group, but looked back at his sister. "Want me to talk to Dahlia? She's probably got something in her bag if your stomach's bothering you."

"Nah, I'll be fine," Zoe said through a forced smile. "I just gotta wait for my stomach to stretch, that's all."

Zoe and Jonathan turned back to the group in time to see Slalznir shaking Gauth's hand, the both of them beaming broadly as Slalznir made a comment about the autumn wreath on Gauth's bald head. They both laughed, and Slalznir personally invited Gauth back in town next year for a rematch.

"Wow. They really aren't like the typical gnolls you read about," Zoe mumbled. "Kinda…figured they'd be really hot-headed or something."

"Or at least ravenous," Jonathan added. "The appetite of feral gnolls is the stuff of nightmares."

"No kidding…" Zoe sighed and tried to reset herself. "Still, after that 'win' at the hammer game, it's nice to see Gauth in good spirits again. I was worried he was going to choke out that attendant guy."

"Me too," Jonathan said with a pained smile. He bent down to pick up Puffpaw and cuddled his face into her fur as she purred. He peeked at his sister through the fur and smiled. "Would a vibrating face warmer help you feel better?"

"You're such a fucker," she laughed, but she accepted the hug and cuddles from Puffpaw. Her mood significantly improved as her senses filled with the familiar, fluffy softness of Puffpaw's coat, and she breathed deeply of the familiar scent…that she suddenly realized was a mixture of spice, vinegar, and a slight hint of burnt sugar.

"Holy shit!"

Jonathan flinched away and then looked at his sister with curiosity and just a slight hint of worry. "Are…you okay? You look like you've had an epiphany."

"I just smelled your magic on Puffpaw!" Zoe nearly squealed. "Dahlia was right! Wow, this is so cool!"

Jonathan's response to the elation was to shove his face back into Puffpaw's side and breathe audibly and deeply through his nose. He lifted his face just enough to match his sister's gaze with a look of shock and discovery.

"Ho-ly shit!" he breathed.

"I know, right?!" Zoe squealed.

"What's got you two giddy?" Jayce laughed as he stepped over. "I look over an' you two're tryin' to shove Puffpaw up your own noses? The fuck's goin' on?"

"We can smell Jon's magic on Puffpaw!" Zoe beamed. Her excitement was enough to make her start bouncing, which Puffpaw did not appreciate. She loved her humans, but being shaken like a mixed drink was a step too far. Instead, Puffpaw wriggled out of Zoe's arms and leapt to Jonathan's shoulders, where she perched with practiced ease.

"Maybe don't jostle my cat while you're spazzing," Jonathan snickered.

Zoe play punched her brother's arm in response, to which he exaggerated his flinch and whined in such a pathetic way that no one took him seriously.

Jayce rolled his eyes and shook his head, but he was clearly amused and sported a big smile on his face. "Good to see the smiles spreadin' around. That said, anythin' else y'all wanna try? Unlike you 'n Gauth, the rest've us still need lunch, and there's plenty more to see."

"Oof, gods, don't mention food," Zoe groaned. Jonathan laughed at her expense and she whapped his arm in retaliation again, causing him to laugh harder as he ducked away. Jayce again shook his head and followed, happy that everyone could cut loose and relax for a time.

xXxXx

The day continued in hazel hues, frosted in reds and golds from both decorations and waning sunlight as evening approached Turst Fields. Shocked by Dahlia's lack of experience despite her thirty years of travel, the others subjected her to the cuisine of the Hazel Festival, but always with a spirit of comradery. Under their guidance, she discovered the messy joys of taffy apples, fried pastries and meats, the truly expansive range of pies, and the versatility that spiced fruit juices had to offer.

After a particularly enjoyable wine tasting, she felt nearly weightless as she drifted and swayed to rowdy music played by local talents. The bonfire, bolstered by fresh timbers, bathed everyone in the main square with warmth and light as the songs twirled around the dancers, accented by whoops and hollers from nearby revelers. If joy could be tangible in that moment, she was practically swaddled in a tapestry of sound and sensation comprised of pure elation. For the first time in a long time, she felt at peace.

A hand tapped her twice on her arm, just above her elbow. From the speed of the tapping and the exact location on her arm, she knew it was Jayce. His way of grabbing her attention had practically become his signature in the last few days. She smiled and turned toward him, confident he would be exactly where she expected him to be.

"Yes?" she asked, the world around her drifting slightly as the alcohol affected her balance. Dahlia knew it was an illusion, but instead of her usual panic, she felt as if the sensation was fun. She was beginning to understand why the others would drink themselves to idiocy in the evenings.

"Yer lookin' a mite unsteady there," Jayce said, a laugh hidden in his words. "You had enough at that tasting?"

"No," she whined, and she felt her heart nearly skip when she heard Jayce giggle at her pout. She really liked that sound. "The blackberry wine was so good, and that strawberry rhubarb one was amazing, and I loved the cranberry wine…! I wish I could get them all, but it's so expensive, and where would I put it? We travel-"

Jayce cleared his throat to politely interrupt and then spoke with a smile. "We also got a cart, Dahlia, and you know how much I got. It ain't that big deal if you wanna run back and grab a bottle."

Dahlia mulled it over for a moment, but the movement of turning her head in thought caused her to briefly lose her balance. Faster than she could react, Jayce had braced her with one hand on her back and the other on her arm.

"Whoa there!" Jayce laughed. "I'm thinkin' the wine can wait. You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Dahlia giggled. Why was it so fun to feel so off-balance? "I'm starting to understand why you guys drink so much though."

"Yeah, well, it's fun," Jayce said brightly. "C'mon. Let's go for a walk and get that head of yours clear again."

"But I like the music," Dahlia whined.

Jayce snickered and patted her hand as she rested it on his arm. "We ain't goin' far."

Resigned to her fate, she allowed Jayce to lead her along the edge of the main square. She could still feel the warmth of the bonfire on her left, and the music was still strong. The laughter of the dancers wasn't fading as they walked, either. Perhaps he was simply leading her around the square.

"Hey, Jayce?"

"Mhm?" he hummed.

"Where is everyone else?" Dahlia asked. A faded worry of being led away to be abandoned flared to the forefront of her mind in that moment, and she winced in reflex as she tried to suppress it. No, she was fine, Jayce was just walking her around the square. Everything was fine.

"Uh…" Jayce's body twisted slightly as he likely looked around the square. "Gauth 'n Al are dancin' with some locals, Jonathan and Zoe are talkin' to each other by a guy with pretzels on a pole… Damn, can't see Bera anywhere."

Dahlia gave a tired smile. "I'm not surprised. She's quite small, after all."

"Ain't that the fuckin' truth…" Jayce sighed. "Ya think she's stickin' with us?"

Dahlia shrugged. "At least as far as Whitestone," she said. "Honestly, I like her. I want her to stick with us."

"She's been fun, I'll say that much," Jayce said with a smile. "Wouldn't be a bad idea havin' a bard around to keep things interesting. Might spare me from readin' on the road."

Dahlia gasped in shock and nearly stopped short in her gait. "Dawn's light! I completely forgot! You were supposed to read in all those voices, too!"

"Nah, swappin' ghost stories was more fun," Jayce snickered.

"You did that on purpose!" Dahlia said accusingly, although she couldn't hide the laugh in her voice. Jayce's own laugh in response was enough of a clue to that.

"I had damn plenty of bein' some replacement organ-grinder's monkey out at sea, Dahlia," Jayce snickered. "I don't mind readin' to you, of course, but I ain't gonna be someone's beck-n'-call entertainment without damn good reason."

"Sorry," Dahlia mumbled. It had been her idea, back in Westruun. She felt awful the second she realized she had never considered his feelings in the deal.

"Hey, now, hold up," Jayce said gently. He pulled her to a stop and stepped around to stand in front of her. "You ain't the only one pushin' for somethin' to do on the road; it gets boring, I get it, probably a fuck-of-a-lot more than people realize when ya can't watch the scenery. Al and Gauth were damn loud about it too, an' like I said, you ain't the problem. It's assholes like them that think it's some fuckin' party trick an' not a real skill."

"But it is!" Dahlia said quickly, as if she had to come to her own defense. "It's incredibly accurate mimicry that can actually fool me, and that's honestly pretty terrifying! How do I know it's you and not someone pretending to be you, or any of the others?"

Jayce brushed a fingertip across her forehead, drawing a stray hair across her nose and back behind her ear. He rested his hand on the back of her hair, cupping her head right at the top of her neck to pull her close to his collar.

"Because you see the world so differently, Dahlia. No amount of voice mimicry or makeup is gonna fool that. You know how I feel and how I smell."

Dahlia took a deep breath, her hands unconsciously coming up to rest on his chest between them. The smell of sulfur began to invade her senses, but she easily tamped that down and payed attention to the other scents. Behind the lingering aroma of fried foods and spices, of charcoal and a hint of citrus, Jayce's familiar musk waited patiently, the exact scent of someone she had come to rely on to be her eyes...and her friend.

"Which, in any other context, would be fuckin' weird to say out loud."

Dahlia sputtered a laugh and buried her face in Jayce's collar, to which he laughed himself.

"Ha! Made ya laugh," he teased.

"Yes you did, you meanie," Dahlia mumbled, although through a smile of her own. She didn't want this to end. This comfort and joy was so rare in her life.

Maybe less rare, now that she had friends she could trust.

"You feelin' better now?" Jayce asked, his shoulders shifting as he tried to peek at her face. Dahlia shifted closer to his center to avoid accidentally losing her balance in case she was still tipsy.

"Technically, no," Dahlia said clearly. She was quoting her knowledge again. "Inebriation requires either time, such as one hour for approximately eight ounces of beer, or a spike in adrenaline to negate the effects-"

A scream from a nearby side street startled them both, and Dahlia felt Jayce immediately grip her arm and squeeze from panic.

"Like that," she said quickly. "Cover your ears."

Jayce's hand disappeared in the split second before Dahlia curled her lips and whistled blaringly loud over the sound of the festival music. It was so loud that the music briefly paused, and Dahlia immediately took advantage of the gap of sound.

"Friends! To me!" she roared, then turned to Jayce and dropped her voice to a more comfortable volume. "Lead me!"

Jayce gripped her arm, just above the elbow again, and yanked her down the side street toward the sound of the scream. Her head felt much clearer with the sudden threat, but that also bolstered the previously silent voice in the back of her mind. Fear stabbed at her heart; What if her reaction had been unnecessary? What if she had startled an entire square full of revelers over nothing? What if-

"Holy fucking hells!"

Jayce came to such a sudden stop that Dahlia crashed into his back, but she recovered quickly. She pulled her arm back from his grip and planted her hand on the back of his shoulder. "Jayce! Tell me what you see!"

"Two goddamn massive owlbears!" he shouted.

That was definitely worth the panic.

"I need more than that!" Dahlia yelped as Jayce darted to the left, and she struggled to follow. His shoulder dipped right as he dashed forward and she shifted accordingly, and the second he moved to the right, she matched his footsteps. She tried to steady her own heart, pounding in her ears, to listen to the world around her.

Faint echos drifted from near their feet, scattered in odd shapes among the flat, cobblestone street. There must have been debris from the attack. She could smell cold, crisp air, untouched from the fires and their scent of tallow and charcoal, and she knew that they were far from the main streets of the festival. Then, a woman screamed. From her tone of voice, Dahlia could guess the woman was in her late fifties, but it was the response that terrified her.

A roar, screeching and hissing, that sounded like an angry wind ripping past a window blasted her ears in fury as Jayce came to another sudden stop. Heavy, thudding footfalls clacked as bony claws rapped across the cobblestones, rooting through the debris separate from the creature that had just screamed. Then, the whistle of air as claws ripped through empty space, toward the trapped older woman.

Her hand, guided by a force that was not her own, whipped out in front of her as Dahlia's mind was devoid of distractions. She cried out for Pelor's light and flicked out her hand, her limbs under the control of some unheard divine instruction. In that moment, aspear of brilliant sunlight slammed into the ground between the woman and the larger of the two owlbears, startling the beast enough to prevent the strike. The owlbear screeched in rage and whipped about, and then it noticed Jayce, his weapon readied and wreathed in oily blue flame.

It's new target was clear, but before it could leap and close the distance between itself and an obvious threat, Jayce whipped out his free hand and swore, cursing the beast as a blue-black beam scraped the side of the creature's face, burning a layer of furry feathers off and revealing bleeding skin beneath that quickly began to shrivel and turn black. The owlbear did not even slow as it screeched in rage and almost stumbled from the pain before it reared up and slashed with fury at Jayce.

Jayce tried to block the dark claws with his sword to deflect them, but the forward force was too much. The claws found purchase in Jayce's shoulder and ripped across his arm, his own blade pressed into his chest and only barely stopped by his own leather armor under the coat. Sensing opportunity, the owlbear snapped its head forward with remarkable speed, but its attempt to bite Jayce's neck with a jagged beak missed with a scant breath to spare between them.

"Fuck!" Jayce yowled, his left arm practically useless and bleeding heavily. Where were the others?! The second owlbear finally glanced up from the meat wagon debris it had been ransacking to notice its friend had suffered damage, and howled in anger as it dashed into the fray.

If it had been silent, perhaps it would have escaped the notice of Dahlia, still standing behind Jayce. With a flick of her arm, the spear of golden light cracked the cobblestone street and freed itself with ease, where it lunged at the smaller owlbear with blinding speed. As the beast halved the distance between itself and its companion, the spear plunged between the creature's ribs, briefly illuminating a strange reddish light underneath the creature's skin and fur. It roared again, this time in pain.

"Stay away from them!" Gauth roared, his axe high above his head as he raced into the fray. The blade flashed and sparked as it struck the cobblestone street, but it had landed where the larger owlbear had been just a moment earlier. Now, Gauth stood between Jayce and the larger beast.

Gauth's muscles sparked as well, cold light crackling up his arms and across his knuckles. As he dragged the axe back within his space, arcs of lightning danced between him and his weapon, electrifying the air around him.

It wasn't the first time Jayce had seen this energy, but it still unnerved him. However, Dahlia's impression was the air had suddenly adopted a static cling, and all she felt was annoyance.

As the larger owlbear flinched back from Gauth, Zoe came flying in, a running start launching her feet first at the second beast. Her heel struck the creature at the base of it's jaw, the force of the strike causing the creature to snap its head to the side. Zoe imparted yet more force by using the beast's jaw as a launch pad to flip backward, where she again lunged at it, her pointed fists aimed at its throat.

The instant her fist slammed into the owlbear's neck, time seemed to slow. The world swam through molasses as a warmth fled her body, seemingly into the beast, and then when it returned, she understood the creature was flesh and blood like any other mundane beast, and was just as vulnerable to death as she was. The way it moved was limited, both by her presence and the divine spear sticking out of its far side, and even though her final strike faltered with this epiphany, she understood every possible attack this creature could make, and how to counter if it tried.

Jayce nodded his thanks to Gauth as he raised his sword and lunged with an attack. The larger owlbear, wary of the strange fire, flinched farther away from the two attackers. Jayce took the opportunity to back away from the fight, but the owlbear's reflective eyes immediately locked on his movement and lunged, swinging recklessly with its black claws. His hip and leg were gouged as he tried to make his escape, and although he collapsed into Dahlia behind him, he winced and roared through the pain, refusing to black out.

Three searing rays of red fire shot past them, two whizzing past harmlessly while a third exploded on the shoulder of the larger owlbear. Jonathan, panting from exertion, nearly stumbled as he came up behind Gauth. His hand shimmered oddly, as if viewed through imperfect glass, as he reached out and tapped Gauth's axe while the giant-kin was preparing for his next swing. The edge of the blade began to shimmer in a similar way, whistling through the air as if it was slicing the breeze itself with a magical sharpness.

While Bera was the last to arrive, she was not the last to join the battle; Al had ducked away to flank the owlbear engaged with Zoe, and Bera watched him carefully. Favoring volume over finesse, she pulled out her ebony chanter and squawked through a blisteringly quick tune, a mist of green enrobing Al's shoulders before fading into an unseen force to provide him luck with his next attack. Al glanced at her and nodded, both his daggers ready to strike.

With Jayce no longer in its reach, the owlbear was forced to turn its attention to Gauth, who was practically taunting the creature with an upswing of his axe. It dove into Gauth's opening and tore at his collar with its beak, its claws raking at his chest and stomach. Gauth did not even flinch, his skin unnaturally strong as he shrugged off the pain in his rage.

The second owlbear took advantage of Zoe's proximity to slam a paw into her, throwing her to the ground hard enough to crack her skull into the cobblestones. The world flashed white as she temporarily lost her vision, and she almost wished it remained that way. Its beck followed with lethal precision and tore into her shoulder, wrenching her arm out of its socket, but not fully separate from her body. Zoe screamed in pain and panic, her consciousness already swimming as black shadows filled her vision.

Then Al finally landed his strikes. His hesitation to aim his attack may have allowed the owlbear to focus its attention on Zoe, but it gave Al the chance to stab directly into the back of the owlbear's knee, ripping both blades through to sever muscle and tendon to cripple the creature. The leg immediately collapsed under the owlbear's weight and the beast twisted hard, trying to find the perpetrator of the attack, but Al had already ducked behind larger debris from the destroyed cart and dropped out of sight.

Dahlia, her nose filled with the smell of blood and ozone, deftly dug her hands into her bag, her healer's kit removed with practiced precision. In seconds, she had staunched and wrapped the wound on Jayce's left arm, buying him time for the fight. He was so shocked that he was unable to respond as she then dashed away from him, easily avoiding Gauth and Jonathan to make her way to Zoe as her divine spear gouged another hole in the owlbear's side.

His axe imbued with magical sharpness, Gauth stretched to bring down the axe as the larger owlbear tore at him. The angle was awkward, but Jonathan's magical boost was enough to make the rage-filled strike find purchase. The blade dug into the beast's back, just beside the spine, and it roared with the fury of a howling gale as it recoiled away from him. Gauth could see nothing but the blood gushing from the open wound, and he was pleased, his face twisting with the joy of a demented predator.

Zoe, trapped under the massive paw of the other owlbear, fought to breathe as she was crushed under its weight, now more heavily as it could no longer lean on its back paws to balance. She was unable to use her right arm, both from wounds and the angle, and her vision blurred and became speckled with flashing points of light. She knew she was losing consciousness, but she refused to succumb before she struck this beast one last time. Unfortunately, she was unable to muster the strength or breath to do so under the creature's paw.

Jayce glanced after Dahlia and noticed Zoe under the second owlbear, but also noticed how that owlbear was unable to stand on its back leg and gushing blood from the wound. Gritting his teeth against the pain of his own wounds, he dropped the falchion to free up his right hand and fired a bolt of blue-black flame right at it. The blast struck the beast directly in its eye, and it lurched off of Zoe as it howled in pain.

Jonathan whirled on the off-balance owlbear, a spell of his own charging in his arm. Three points of purple light extended into darts that fired like missiles directly into the exposed chest of the beast, exploding with audible bursts with each impact. The explosions were powerful enough to throw the owlbear to its side, and it howled in pain and fury as it scrambled for footing.

It rasped and wheezed, fighting to return to its feet, and Bera peeked at it as she watched over the battle. She turned and blasted a discordant squeal through her chanter at the beast, and the owlbear screeched in ungodly pain as its eyes rolled back and it collapsed to the ground, finally quiet and still.

Satisfied, Bera turned her attention and played a blisteringly fast melody on her chanter, once again blessing one of her companions with a temporary green mist of luck about Gauth's shoulders. Hopefully, he would take out the last owlbear without too much trouble.

Enraged at the loss of its mate, the larger beast screeched and tore at Gauth, its own fury and pain making its strikes wild and clumsy. While Gauth was able to deflect its claws with his axe, the creature's beak gashed at his arm. It was a glancing blow, made even more insignificant with Gauth's battle fury pumping through his veins.

With the death of the smaller owlbear, Al quickly rushed to flank the creature tearing at his friend and slid past it, his daggers once again tearing out the muscle and sinew on the back of the owlbear's knee. He used the momentum to pass the owlbear and put himself out of its reach, but he wasn't fast enough. It twisted hard, landing on its injured leg as it slashed at him, its claws slicing through the side of Al's arm as he rolled. Al made it to his feet a little worse for wear, but beyond the immediate range of the beast.

Meanwhile, Dahlia had made it to Zoe, and with a spell and a command of "Return!", Zoe's vision cleared and her lungs filled with cold evening air. As Zoe coughed and gripped at her arm, Dahlia flicked her hand out again toward the screeching beast, and the spear of light tore itself out of the dead beast to impale the living one. As it was still on its back, the spear landed in the soft, fleshy stretch of stomach that had been exposed. It screeched and twisted, lashing out in all directions as it finally realized it was outnumbered and cornered.

Gauth refused to let it forget that it had both hurt his best friend and exposed its belly, and nearly stepped on top of it to slam his axe down with all the fury he could muster. Blood and bile burst from the new wound as the beast twisted and howled in rage, it's front claws already flashing at Gauth's arms. Luckily, Jayce was paying attention and fired another bolt of blue-black flame at the beast, striking it in the neck. The burned feathery fur crumbled away as the exposed skin beneath it blackened with necrotic energy and it fell back, briefly stunned from the blast.

Jonathan immediately stepped up and took the opening, another three pinpoints of purple energy swirling around his wrist. Unerringly aimed, per the properties of the spell, Jonathan sent the magical missiles directly into the wound Gauth left behind, and the skin lit up and distended disturbingly as the small darts exploded in the creature's stomach. Blood and bile, carried by bits of torn flesh and organs, scattered over Gauth as the owlbear went limp, it's body finally still in death.

"Anybody dead?" Al asked, once the pause made it clear neither beast was still among the living.

"No, but I got close," Zoe wheezed. Jonathan was already at her side, helping to prop her up as Dahlia examined her mangled arm. "You good?"

"A little roughed up," Al hissed as he checked his arm. "Anyone else?"

"I'll live," Jayce coughed. His chest hurt, and he was bleeding badly. "Provided I get patched up. I'm leakin' like a fuckin' sieve."

"I'm working as fast as I can," Dahlia cut in, her voice curt and tense. "Please get closer so I can use magic to staunch the bleeding."

As she spoke, she wrenched Zoe's arm back into its socket, and then whispered the words for her healing spell to wash over Zoe's bloodied form. Of course, the words were lost as Zoe yelled and cursed through the pain, even as her bones knit and her skin mended.

"There. You're in better shape," Dahlia said gently. She wrapped Zoe's wrist in bandages before throwing the wrapping over Zoe's shoulder and fashioning a makeshift sling. "This should hold until I can give you a better assessment. Jayce? You're next."

"You're my best friend," Zoe whimpered, tears welling in her eyes as she gave a brief, one-armed hug to Dahlia. "Thank you!"

Dahlia's shoulders shot up almost to her ears as she instantly tensed, but rather than push Zoe away, Dahlia awkwardly patted Zoe on the back and gave her a pained smile. "Hopefully, next time you have a chance to take one of those potions I gave you. Just in case I can't reach you in time."

"Shitballs! I completely forgot I had that!" Zoe groaned.

Dahlia nodded, the lack of surprise clear on her face, as she gently lifted Zoe's good arm from around her middle. "Now, Jayce, where are you?"

"Here," Jayce said, shuffling over to her. He sat down on the ground, rather than ask Dahlia to get up. He was exhausted anyway. "Fuckin' impressed how fast you wrapped me up, earlier."

"Comes with practice," Dahlia said with a flustered smile. She quickly checked his wounds before she also cast a healing spell on him, her golden sunlight fading into his wounds as they began to close.

With the more dire wounds cared for, Jayce stretched out the wrapped arm and flexed his fingers. "Nice. Practically good as new!" he beamed.

"Hang on, when'd she wrap you up?" Al asked. He also sat on the street next to them, mostly because he was also exhausted and wanted healing.

"Right after that thing mauled me," Jayce said with a shrug. Dahlia barely listened as she assessed Al's arm before applying another healing spell, nearly erasing the wounds entirely.

"Let me get this straight," Bera cut in, counting on her fingers to prove her point. "Our blind healer managed to find and wrap your wounds in the face of a raging owlbear, find Zoe before she blessed the daisies, and summoned a spectral weapon that successfully struck either beast four times?!"

"And?" Jayce asked, his smirk as evident in his voice as it was on his face.

"She's blind! How?!" Bera yelped.

Gauth laughed and bent down to pat Bera on the head. "That's our healer," he said with a smile.

"I specialized as a field surgeon," Dahlia mumbled. "It's just my job."

"Although the spear thing was new," Jayce said. He glanced over to the partially erupted corpse of the larger owlbear in time to see the spear fade into specks of glittering golden light. "When'd you pick that up?"

Dahlia shrugged. "I just begged Pelor to save that- Oh gods! The woman!"

Dahlia scrambled to her feet and dashed toward where the older woman had been cowering, and thankfully, the almost-victim was still there, sobbing in fear and holding herself as she quivered among the debris.

"Ma'am, ma'am, are you alright?" Dahlia asked, her hands out both to comfort the woman and to find her in the first place. She kneeled next to the woman and placed a hand on her foot, to give the woman space to flinch away if she needed to.

"Gods have mercy…!" the woman sobbed, her breathing shaky and shuddering. "I thought I was gonna die!"

"By Pelor's will, not today," Dahlia said with a kind smile. "Can you tell me what happened?"

The woman relaxed as Dahlia's words and presence had given her a sense of calm and safety. She began to sob, but tried to explain through her tears anyway.

She owned a butcher shop with her son, Alard, and in preparation for the evening feast of the Hazel Festival, they had butchered five prized pigs that had been fattening up all year. Their cart was full of meat, half of it spiced and wrapped in salt and cotton, the other half plain, per the Mayor's request to accommodate the gnolls. As they began to pull the cart out from behind the shop, the owlbears ambushed them on the street, destroying their cart and mauling her son.

"They tore him apart in front of me! They just wandered right into town! They didn't even flinch at the torchlight!" she wailed. "Gods above, my son, my poor son…!"

Dahlia's own heart felt the woman's grief with such intensity that she nearly began to cry herself, but she had to remain composed. She patted the woman's foot and gave her time to cry, and then finally spoke. "What is the faith of your son? I can't offer much, but I can perform his last rites, and send him to the celestial realm in peace."

"We-we follow Erathis, the Lawbearer," the woman said, her voice still choked by tears. "But...but how-? Our goddess promises justice-! My son was killed by a monster! How is that justice?!"

Dahlia shifted to draw the woman into an embrace, and the woman's head rested against her shoulder, where she sobbed freely. The others felt awkward, and so turned away to speak with the small group of Shields who had finally arrived.

"The gods do not subject us to the whims of monsters. I refuse to believe they would test us in such ways," Dahlia said softly. "That is the purview of the Betrayers and their ilk. You will have your time to grieve, as is your right, and I will care for his soul. What happens beyond that, I cannot say, but I do know the strength of Erathis will be with you."

If the woman had heard and understood, she made no indication of it. Dahlia gave her a few moments and then helped her stand before leading her to the soft mumble of conversation nearby. There was very little she could do, after all, but her mind was already racing with generic blessings she could offer the recently deceased. Was there a specific prayer for dedicating a soul to Erathis by way of Pelor's light?

She would have to ask her friends for help finding the body's parts, and if those weren't available, at least something that remained. Of course, a general rite of passing over the general area would be adequate, but it was always better to have something that was once directly anchored to the soul for a proper blessing.

When a Shield called out the woman's name and asked after her, Dahlia faced that voice specifically to hand off the grieving woman. With that, she rubbed her hands together to get some warmth back into them, and then turned to face the remains of battle behind her.

There was no time to stop; there was work to do.

xXxXx

By the time the group had made their way back to the festivities, once their own wounds were patched and their armor cleaned, news of their selfless foray into battle had spread among the revelers, and they were cheered like heroes around the bonfire. Gauth, his head proudly adorned with the laurel from the pie-eating contest, took it upon himself to educate the Shields about the hunting patterns of owlbears, and was easily convinced to lead a small group of them into the woods to seek out their den and clear it of debris and cubs.

Al, concerned for his friend (who was both injured and somewhat tipsy from all the celebratory beer shoved his way), offered to follow, under the pretense of assisting with the tracking of the creatures. Of those that remained, Jonathan and Zoe were deep in a lively conversation with Kai, who was thoroughly impressed with their battle prowess but had wanted to hear a first-hand account of the attack. Of course, Zoe spared no detail about her near-death experience, and by the time she had finished speaking, a small crowd had gathered to gasp in awe and shock in unison.

Bera was in her element, perched upon several empty crates with her lyre on her hip as her melodious voice improvised a whole song about their recent accomplishments, and the crowd cheered upon hearing the finale of both the tune and the beasts. Upon concluding that song, she immediately launched into another, much more complex tune, which spoke at length about an evil man that captured long-lived beings to extend his own life. The crowd was awed as the heroine of the tale, a woman captured for her race, was able to gain the favor of the evil man and eventually poison him through the very ritual that extended his life. They cheered with fervor as a knight in shining armor rescued the woman just moments before her own death, her survival guaranteed for an encore tune someday.

Dahlia winced as she listened. She had followed Jayce to the side of the festivities, which had grown colder in the darkening evening. The bonfire in the center of the crossroads was lovingly tended to by men who dashed from dance to tale to woodpile, and so warmth was always within reach on that frigid nightfall, but the cold always creeped in from the edges where the revelers' own bodies blocked the light of the fire.

"You okay?" Jayce asked softly. His hand tapped her arm, just above her elbow, in habit before he rested his palm in that exact spot. He had grown bold with his touch in the recent days, but truthfully, it was because Dahlia let him. His touch reminded her of her brother, and the fleeting moments where her skin touched his, either cheek to cheek in a hug or a fluttering touch of a fingertip, it made her heart skip a beat and thump in her chest. She wanted more, but the scar on her stomach clenched each time she thought of it. There was a price to that kind of familiarity. She wasn't ready to lose it just yet.

"I...have a lot on my mind," Dahlia mumbled. She crossed her arms and her fingers almost popped as she tightened her grip. "A young man died today, from those same owlbears we neglected to hunt. I keep thinking we could have avoided this tragedy if we had taken the other job."

Jayce shrugged, a moment she felt telegraphed through the hand on her arm. "Yeah, maybe. Could've been those fuckin' ghouls got loose instead. You mentioned that one talkin' asshole literally laid a trap by attackin' that girl. What if it got bored and started bitin' folks on the edges?"

Dahlia winced again and placed a palm on her face. She barely touched her fingers to the edges of her eyes, where her blindfold used to sit. She was almost shocked to realize it was not there anymore. "That would have been so much worse. If any of the victims survived, there would be a real chance of ghoul fever running rampant through Turst Fields."

Jayce nodded, a much subtler movement but one she noticed nonetheless. "Exactly. Ain't ideal, with the butcher's son gettin' killed, but all in all, I gotta say this ain't the worst outcome."

"That sounds so callous though," Dahlia sighed. "Thank goodness one died instead of many? I'd rather no one did."

"So would we all," Jayce said gently. "On a lighter note, Bera's song ain't half bad. 'Course, we know she's talkin' about that goblin-eared Margrave, but your bits are spot on."

Dahlia huffed out a humorless smile. "I appreciate the anonymity, but I'm not proud of what I did."

"You kidding?" Jayce asked. From the way his touch shifted, she assumed he had turned more toward her. "You took a desperate situation and turned it around! If it weren't for your help, we would've lost your trail faster 'n it would've taken to trip down the stairs. That mint was fuckin' brilliant, by the way, and helped us track you nearly to the Margrave himself. Only regret I got is bein' too stupid to figure it out faster."

"And...I nearly killed myself in the process," Dahlia whispered. She could feel tears welling up in her throat and desperately fought them back down. "I wanted to die. I was ready."

"Dahlia, no," Jayce said softly. A hand, his hand, came to rest on her cheek. He had become quite bold indeed, but to her shock, she leaned into his palm. And then she realized his hand was on the right side of her face. Was he left-handed?

At least it avoided the scar under her glamour.

"You weren't ready. You said yourself you hung on to tell me that joke, remember? And it was fuckin' funny, by the way. Top marks. That's a pun I gotta use someday, so don't you go forgettin' you gave it to me."

Dahlia knew if she spoke, her tears would flow freely, so instead she sniffled and nodded. She then leaned toward him, and just as she expected, Jayce pulled her into a gentle hug and let her rest her head on his shoulder.

Several moments passed before either of them moved, with Dahlia enrobed in Jayce's would have spent that entire evening in such a way if the air had not suddenly taken a chilling turn with a playful wind, which seemed able to find any exposed skin with ease. As Dahlia buried her face further into Jayce's chest, he laughed softly and gently pulled her back.

"Probably about time we head back to the inn, right?" he asked.

"Yeah," Dahlia said as she nodded, her voice still tense from the barely-avoided tears. "I'm...really tired, and your coat's cut through-"

"Actually, that ain't a problem," Jayce smiled. "Bera's got a spell that mended it. Took a few minutes, but it's practically good as new."

"So that's why she didn't start singing as soon as we got back!" Dahlia said, her expression one of epiphany. "Wow. That spell will be handy on the road."

"Yet another reason havin' her along would be good," Jayce said brightly. He took Dahlia's arm and began to lead her through the edge of the crowd. "Looks like Zoe and Jonathan are still talkin' to that halfling from yesterday, so we're gonna let 'em know we're headin' back before we walk the whole way. You okay?"

"Um, yes, but...can we…?" Dahlia trailed off as she winced again. Could she really ask? Did she dare?

She could hear Jayce smirk through his voice. "And we'll pick up a bottle've wine on the way. You gotta choose one, though. I ain't buyin' a whole crate."

Dahlia's shoulders dropped as the tension left her, and she squeezed his arm in thanks as they walked. She was so, so happy to have finally found a friend.

xXxXx

The room had no light. It wasn't needed. Even in the darkness, he could see shapes and shadows, shades of grey as they sat facing each other, and he could see the curves of her face so close to his own.

He had a vague recollection of her thumbs working his hands, pressing his forearms and working his wrists, and a shiver of pleasure scuttled up his spine as he became aware of the moment. Her hands, flat against his bare chest, pressed him deeper into the bed as they worked in tandem across his collar and along the back of his neck.

Her hips were pressed into his, her fingers tangled briefly in his hair as he moaned. He wanted more. He said as much. She leaned down and brushed her lips against his, but when he tried to kiss her, she pulled away.

She teasingly chided him, her fingers brushing light strokes across his face as she sifted farther down his torso. He couldn't move anything, not even his fingers as her thighs slid across his. His skin began to crawl as her fingernails began to scratch, digging trails from his chest to his hips. This was wrong. It was too much like-

He glanced up at her, her face just inches above his member. He watched in horror as the face of the woman he loathed began to lick and tease him in familiar ways, his body reacting to her in all the ways he could not control. Her wicked smile, her blond hair, her dark eyes that flashed with lust, all hovered above him like a phantom of terror from a forgotten past. He struggled, begging his limbs to move, but he was numb. He glanced down at his hands, but they were tied down, and small. His eyes darted back to the woman, and even his body had changed. Back to that awful time, back to that awful place. Even as he looked around desperately for an escape, he found himself back in that terrible room.

He tried to scream, to fight, in the very least to struggle, but it was all fruitless. Nothing worked. He was powerless to fight back. It was as terrible as he remembered.

His screams turned to sobs as he begged the air for help, for mercy. For anything. Just as he was about to lose all hope, that woman gasped and choked.

He looked up, shocked to see the woman's face going black, the skin drying and stretching over her skull as she became little more than a desiccated corpse. Clawed hands with dark, cracked fingernails crushed her skull as if it was little more than packed sand, the remains of the shriveled organs from within her head scattering across his body as they squelched and seeped a pus-like fluid.

He tried to see his savior, somewhere in the dark shadows above his confines, when he saw them. Dark, yellowed eyes, slitted like that of a predator, writhing tendrils filling the darkness like a mass of snakes undulating to the rhythm of a breathing creature. He could almost hear them hiss, but it was unclear if it was his mind or his ears that registered the sound.

The eyes came closer, and a voice that scratched at his bones like icy claws filled him with terror. "You are mine," it said, the voice screeching as his body filled with dread. Without warning, six hooked barbs stabbed into his chest, just between his ribs, and his lungs filled with cold, but precious, air.

How long had he been drowning?

"Mine…" it hissed, its voice clawing its way into his ears. "You are mine...and you will carry my power. You will destroy those you hate. You will devote them to me."

Those yellow eyes overtook his vision, smothering him in a cold fire that clung to his skin like oil.

"Remember what happens to those who disobey me. Remember…"

xXxXx

Jayce snapped awake in his bed and chomped down on his arm, barely stifling his scream in time. He was panting and drenched in a cold sweat, his shirt nearly soaked through, as his eyes darted around the room in panic.

He forced himself to breathe. The checklist. Go through the checklist. Was he safe? He patted himself down, and beyond being soaked in sweat, he could find no harm. Did he remember falling asleep? No. Wait, yes. Jayce and Dahlia had been talking before finally laying down to sleep. He glanced over at the other bed. Sure enough, Dahlia was under her blanket, her body as small as possible as the quilt was tucked as close to her chin as she could muster. Her breath was even and soft, and it was surprisingly calming to listen to in the otherwise stifling darkness.

Once he realized he was still in the Nutty Knob, exactly in the bed he remembered from when he fell asleep, he knew he was safe. Nothing to worry about. No ghosts from his past to haunt him. No strange creatures filling his mind with terror.

Even so, those last words echoed in his mind.

"Obedience begets reward."