When the sun came up, Addie could see that the burning grove was far in the distance, though the billowing smoke clouds were still visible. They packed up their things, Safiya put her marvelous tent back into her bag, and they looked out over the cliff.
"It's warmer here," Adahni observed, "And not because of the fire. It's a different kind of warmth."
"It's always warm in Immil Vale," Gann said, "Is that not true of your homeland? Neverwinter, right?"
"Bit of a misnomer," Adahni said, "It never snows in Neverwinter, for sure, and it's certainly warmer than the areas around it, but the winds blow just as cold in from the sea. This reminds me of a place high in the mountains, where the spirit of a dragon was chained in undeath. High in the mountains, even in late autumn, it was warm."
"No dragons here, my lemming," Gann said, "Only a great fire mountain."
"We've got those too," Adahni said, "Although there are those who say that the fire of Mount Galardrym was the result of a powerful red dragon, and not the blood of the earth spilling forth."
"Sometimes I have no idea what you're talking about," Gann said, "Though I must admit it sounds very poetic. There's a path down to the bottom, here, it takes a few hairpin turns."
"Is there any local wildlife we need to watch out for?" asked Safiya.
"It is always best to be on ones guard," Okku said, "There are some warm-weather creatures drawn here that do not exist in the rest of Rashemen. Some lesser dragons, I believe I have heard tell of." The companions made their way down the path, which indeed took several hairpin turns. Adahni was glad for it. Her knees and ankles had been aching and swelling something awful for the past several days. She imagined it was probably the cold, and hoped they would improve as they got into the warmth of the Vale.
"The tree that Gnarlthorn spoke of is here," Kaelyn said, "As is the bheur. What might be of interest as well, though, is the Moss-stone. It is said that those who slumber beneath it are blessed – or cursed – with prophetic dreams."
"Dreams are rarely a curse," Gann said, "At least when I'm involved."
"I told you to stay out of those," Adahni warned. Up ahead, she saw Safiya blush. Outside of the city of Mulsantir, they had stopped covering her tattoos and bald head, and now she could see the blood rise to her scalp, "Oh, gods, you two haven't been..."
"No!" Safiya exclaimed, "Gods, of course not! The blue bastard crept into my mind last night and caught me in the middle of something."
"Now, now," Gann said, "We all have dreams about old lovers now and then, I was just curious."
"Curiosity can kill a hagspawn," Safiya said, her face a furious scarlet, "Have you forgotten what we red wizards can do when we put our minds to it?"
"Good Gods," Adahni sighed, "Gann, I understand you've become accustomed to being alone, but please can you try to remember that at least for now, you have to see us on a daily basis?"
"I had no idea it would be considered impolite!" he exclaimed, "Most women love it when I stumble upon their dreams. You would be amazed at how many unsatisfied housewives have welcomed me into their arms while they slept."
"Yes," Safiya said, "It's amazing how many women want you that don't actually know you." She folded her arms across her chest and exhaled sharply through her nose. Gann stopped in his tracks and threw his hands up, evidently utterly baffled.
"I just don't understand. Do you, Okku?" he asked, "You're male, are all women like this when they're awake?"
"I haven't been interested in a female for millenia," Okku said, "I'm a spirit, remember?"
"Kaelyn?" Gann appealed.
"Have servants of Ilmater ever been known for their knowledge of the flesh?" the celestial asked, stretching her wings as the sun emerged from behind the billowing smoke, "It is so much nicer here. It's very difficult to keep ones wings warm in the cold."
"I had a friend who said something similar," Adahni said, grateful that the cleric had changed the subject.
"You knew one like me?" Kaelyn asked, "With wings?"
"Not precisely..." Adahni said, "My friend was a tiefling, with a lovely long tail that got dreadful frostbite if she stayed outside too long."
"A tiefling!" Kaelyn exclaimed, "But you, you're of the Aasimar yourself. How is it you came to spend time with one of the lower planes?"
"Yes, the man who sired me was a lesser angel," she said, "And the man who raised me was a wood elf, but my mother was human, I have always lived in human settlements, and I considered myself among their number. Hells, if anything the even slighter touch of dragon blood I carry has affected my life more than my celestial blood."
"Still," she said, "You didn't instinctively recoil from him?"
"Her," Adahni said, "And no, I didn't." She was starting to be a little annoyed by the cleric's questions, "You yourself have made some unorthodox choices, no? Your following of Ilmater itself is a rather going against your nature, wouldn't you say?"
"That's one thing... but those with the blood of the lower planes? Are they not just evil?" Kaelyn asked.
"No, they're not," Adahni said coldly, "They have no more or less capacity for evil than you or I or any with the blood of any kind of plane. I find your prejudices most off-putting."
"I did not mean to put you off, Adahni," Kaelyn said, "I suppose I find your open-mindedness admirable."
"My tiefling friend was a loyal and true companion and I wish her all of the happiness she deserves," Adahni replied. She felt tears come to her eyes, and was not quite sure why. Neeshka had lived to return to Crossroad Keep and be greeted by Nevalle and Nasher and her husband Cormick. As far as she knew, Neeshka, Sand, and perhaps Ammon Jerro had survived the attack. She had heard tell that Neeshka had been given the house and lands of Crossroad Keep after she returned. She had no idea what had become of Sand and Jerro.
"I believe you," Kaelyn said, "I apologize for my prejudice, you must understand where I come from."
"Quite all right," Adahni said, waving the woman off. She had spent so much time looking over her shoulder for the past two years that she had not spent a long time thinking about what had become of her previous companions. Looking over my shoulder, and for what? Because I kept company with the traitor Kyrwan Bishop. Not for myself, but for him. She guiltily pushed this thought from her mind. She had made the decision to go with him with a clear mind, and had few regrets about it, though sometimes she thought about what it would have been if she had returned to being the Captain of Crossroad. She imagined Neeshka had lived, given birth to the child she was carrying during the siege of the Guardian Ruins, and was having a wonderful life. She could not think anything else. After having led so many others to their deaths, she had to believe that at least the little Tiefling girl would be all right.
The air got warmer as they descended down the path and into a lush meadow carpeted with a deep green species of grass that Adahni had never seen before. The sun was out, and her skin drank it in, savoring it after so many weeks of cold and clouds.
It was Okku who let them know of the presence of enemies, letting loose a sound that was almost just like the warning bark of a dog. Adahni snapped upright, and looked to left and right, seeing two winged guardians coming towards them. Their two feet marked them as wyverns, lesser dragons that did not have the power of speech or logical thought as the higher dragons did. Lesser or higher, though, they were just as frightening when they were bearing down on you.
"Go for the joints!" Adahni managed to cry before ducking and rolling out of the way as the larger of the two dove for her. She drove her blade into the side of its neck, though only succeeded in creating a small nick out of which black blood trickled pathetically. She sprang back to her feet, the pain in her ankles forgotten in the adrenaline of the moment. Safiya had loosed a few missiles at the smaller one, who seemed to be rather stunned as Okku jumped up and tore its throat out. Gann, meanwhile, had lept onto the back of the one who had been attacking Adahni and was hacking at the back of its neck. She kept its attention on her, nicking it here and there, going for its knees and thighs. Finally, Gann managed to sever the things spinal cord, and it began to fall. Adahni dodged out from underneath just in time, and stood there, wiping the bitter black blood from her face.
"Why are they always hostile?" Adahni sighed, "It's like wherever I go, something's always trying to kill me. Please tell me that's not normal."
The others looked at each other. Okku shrugged, his hair rippling with the movement. "The world is a cold and hostile place," he said, by way of an explanation.
"I suppose you have walked it longer than the rest of us combined," Adahni sighed, "And that explanation will have to suffice."
"It's the most we can ask for," Kaelyn said, "Come, I think I see the tree Gnarlthorn spoke of. There can't be too many red trees at this time of year, can there."
"I suppose," Adahni said, "Can we think of a third untainted item?"
"If we can make the grove stop burning, I imagine we can find something like that there," Gann said, "And for that we will need to make contact with the bheur."
"Well in this place she shouldn't be too hard to find," Safiya said, "This Valley can be covered in a day or two at most, and the presence of an Ice Hag would certainly send up a few signals. Depending on how long she's been here, there could be veritable glacier coming from her lair."
"Don't you think she'd have the good sense to cover her tracks?" asked Adahni, "I have a bit of experience in hiding out from things. The first thing you do is erase all signs that you were there in the first place. Cover the fire pit, sweep over your tracks, put down pine boughs to cover your scent."
"I'm sure she would if she could," Gann sighed, "One thing that differentiates my mother's people from yours is that they are bound by their very natures. An ice hag cannot make things warm, only colder and colder. A bheur could no more make things warm than Okku could sprout wings and fly like Kaelyn."
"Well that seems impractical," Adahni said.
"It's why hags tend to congregate in covens. With several hags of the same type, they can form something like a working society. Solitary hags are disadvantaged, so to speak," Gann said, "Though it is said that most bheurs are indeed solitary, for none have seen more than one at once. They are not a part of the slumbering coven."
"But most of them have the good sense to remain in places that are normally icy?" Adahni guessed.
"Yes," Gann said, "You're catching on to the fauna of Rashemen quite quickly, my lemming. A bheur exists for the pleasure of bringing an icy doom upon all around her. From her choice of home, I would imagine this particular ice hag has such a penchant for that that she simply finds it boring to live in a place that is already cold."
"So she'd rather risk her very life to do that which she enjoys than live in relative safety and not enjoy it quite as much?" Adahni asked, "I think she and I might understand each other. Perhaps I can speak with her."
"I can't imagine why anyone would choose exile," Gann said, his voice a little sad, "I've never known anything else."
"Considering you don't seem to have much care for social niceties, I can imagine a few years in the city and you might long for the lam again," Adahni said, "Though I won't put words in your mouth."
"It is quite strange," the hagspawn said, tilting his head and looking around at his companions, "I admit I have become so unused to being with company that I simply say whatever pops into my head. I suppose I am sorry for that."
Adahni looked at him. It was the first time she'd heard the hagspawn speak with anything resembling self-awareness. He looked a little perplexed and lost.
"I'm not used to people not liking me," he said.
"We don't dislike you," she sighed.
"Speak for yourself!" Safiya grumbled.
Adahni hurried up to the front of the group, where Gann was walking alone, his hands clasped behind his back. It hadn't occurred to her that the gentle ribbing that she and the others had been giving him for the past weeks had worn on him. Then again, of course it would have. He was not used to being in the company of any given person for more than a few hours – how could he know that friends could criticize each other freely with no ill will behind it?
"I hope you know we don't actually," she said, "At least I don't."
He looked down at her, "You don't dislike me, but you don't like me either."
"To be fair, I feel as though I barely know you," she said, "All you ever talk about, when you're not busy propositioning myself or Safiya, is how many girls you've bedded in your dreams. That's not exactly a topic one talks about when one is trying to get anyone – especially a woman – to like you."
"Well they liked me," Gann said, "I figured if they liked me, you would imagine I had something likeable about me."
"Gods almighty!" Adahni sighed in exasperation, "Have you never bothered to sit down and talk with another person before?"
"Bothered?" Gann said, "They tend to throw shoes at me and chase me from their doorsteps! I'm not exactly welcome in most polite gatherings if you hadn't noticed! Normal hagspawn, you know the fanged brutes, are bad enough, but the Rashemi simply don't trust anything that's out of the ordinary. You know, hagspawn ought to be sinfully ugly with subhuman intelligence. You can pity a hagspawn, but once one comes in who turns your wife's head... forget about it!"
"I'm not Rashemi," Adahni said, "Safiya is Thayan, and Kaelyn isn't even from this plane."
"I know," he said, "It's just... difficult. This is all new to me, and I wish you'd be a bit more patient."
She sighed, "I will try, but no promises."
"And another thing! Do you think walking in dreams is something I do on purpose?" he asked, "If I'm to sleep at all, I must be in someone's dream. I don't have any of my own."
"Hm?" she asked.
"I don't have dreams of my own. My mind doesn't make them. I don't have any choice but to walk into the heads of others," he said, "I've been staying out of yours and Safiya's, but it's not as though I have a choice but to walk in dreams. It's my nature. Just as it's a bheur's nature to freeze things." He was quiet a moment. They had traversed a good amount of the western side of the valley by this time, and had come upon a great standing stone, seemingly hewn out of red rock that did not belong in the black volcanic soil of the Immil Vale. The rest of the group had evidently struck upon a topic of conversation that delayed them, and the two of them waited beneath it for the others to catch up.
"Moss Stone," he said, looking up at it. Adahni could see why it was called that. In every crack and imperfection of the rock grew creeping pockets of green moss.
"This is where one can experience prophetic dreams?" she asked.
"I had meant to speak to you of this before," he said, "If you wish to learn of the nature of your curse, you must look inward. It is difficult for one such as you to do so, no?"
"I suppose,"Adahni said.
"I believe that I may be able to help you," he said, "If you would rescind your refusal to allow me into your dreams. You and those like you are clouded and confused in dreams. The world that exists in your dreams is different from the world as it is, and when you are in that world everything there seems natural, so that you cannot notice what the dream world is trying to tell you."
"I see what you mean," she said. It was true, things happened in dreams that made no sense at all, and upon waking she would remember one or two things, but rarely the whole sequence at once.
"I am not like that," he said, "When I am in a dream, I do not lose my wits as most of you do. I remember things. I remain lucid. And if you are with me, with me to guide you, you too will remain lucid. Do you see what I'm saying?"
"If I go into the dream knowing you will be there to pull me back to myself, then I will experience the dream world as I do the real one?" Adahni asked.
"Precisely," Gann said, "Perhaps we will come back this way after sunset. I will help you look into yourself, and find the nature of your curse."
"Ha," she said, "I've learned over the years not to look too closely at myself. It's a bit frightening."
"I doubt it's that," Gann said, "Either way, it might be best not to tell the others. They don't trust me."
"I'm sure it's fine," Adahni said, "But if it would make you more comfortable, I will keep my mouth shut."
They stood there in silence while Okku, Safiya, and Kaelyn, approached them.
"Why did you stop?" Safiya asked, looking at the two of them suspiciously.
Gann pointed off to the distance. Barely a white speck, when Adahni strained her eyes she could see that there was a snowdrift leaning up against the cliff to the north.
"I think we've found our ice hag," he said.
"Glad you're good for something," Safiya said, "Come on. The sooner we've put out that fire, the happier I am."
"Now this should be interesting," said Adahni, "I've never met a hag before. Lead the way, hagspawn, something tells me she'd rather speak to you with the rest of us."
"Don't count on it," Gann said, "The thing about hags is they tend to not like each other very much. Then again, who does?"