Adahni was glad for her regained strength, for the journey to the Wells of Lurue was a hard one, long steep and rocky paths. She was still fatigued most of the time, probably the result of carrying an ancient curse, but since she was able to keep food down, she could fight it all the more effectively. Safiya's magnificent tent was a far sight better than the musty-smelling thing that she'd carried on her back the length of the Sword Coast, as well, so when she did sleep, it was soundly and safely.
The area known as the Wells was at the bottom of a gorge carved out by what had once been a deep and swift-moving river. The river was gone, and a few farms dotted the valley, in the shadow of the cliffs the rose sharply on either side. As the journeyed further in, she saw how the forest had retaken the place where some of the farms lay abandoned. Stone walls criss-crossed the forest, the foundations that had once held farmhouses lay bare to the elements, all with the dry leaves of skittering over them as they walked down the steep path to the bottom of the valley.
The bottom, somewhat like the Immil Vale, was misty and warm. Adahni would normally have been grateful for the respite from the cold, but it seemed her metabolism was in overdrive. Processing both spirits and normal food, probably, but she was uncomfortable all the same. She loosened the leather armor she wore under her clothes to let the sweat trickle down from where it had just pooled at the base of her spine. There was nothing in the air of the Wells that made the hair at the back of her neck prickle, and the smell she smelled on the air was sweet and pure, without the hint of decay that she had sensed in the Ashenwood. It reminded her a bit of home, during the springtime, when the air still retained a bit of the nip of winter, but was moist and growing. All in all, she began to feel at ease as she approached the bottom of the valley.
Gann paused, putting a hand on her elbow as they reached the bottom.
"I have walked here," he said, "In my dreams."
"If I had a copper for every time you said that..." Addie muttered, "I hope the information you're about to give me is relevant."
"No information," Gann said, "Just... let's avoid that house over there, shall we?" He pointed on blue finger at a white clapboard farmhouse standing between two oak trees near the where the gorge's wall ascended up and up and up. It really wasn't much of a farm, just a barn and a pen with two goats and a handful of apple trees. Nothing that would have drawn Addie's attention if he had not pointed it out on his own.
"What did you do now?" asked Safiya.
"Who said I did anything?" said Gann, feigning great offense, "I'm not a monster you know,"
"Sure," Safiya said, "Why do I get the feeling it's all going to bite us in the ass?"
"Such a pessimist," the hagspawn clucked.
Okku hung back, gazing around the landscape, his eyes wide under his many-colored brow. "I know this place," he rumbled, "I remember a pool... a gathering of beasts... water rushing from above..." He paused, lifting his muzzle skyward, sniffing the air with great snorting breaths, "The moisture on the air... it carries the scent of my clan. And their voices, too. They are near, Adahni can you hear them?"
Adahni listened, but could hear nothing but the rustle of dry leaves, and somewhere in the distance, the languid music of a slow-flowing river.
"I'm afraid I don't, friend," she replied.
"I hear them as well," Gann said, "They are lost,,, they are the cries of those confused, the lost - the mad. Be careful, Old King Bear. I think you might be in danger here."
"Do they live?" Okku asked, his eyes flashing with hope, "I hear pain in their cries... and rage. My kin are here, hiding among the rocks perhaps... but why?"
"Come, we'll search these gorges until we find them," Adahni said.
"Thank you," Okku said. He lifted his nose up again, smelling the air for clues as Adahni had seen her canine companions do on numerous occasions. He turned twice, thrice, and pointed his muzzle in the direction of the farm that Gann had warned them to avoid.
"Great," muttered Safiya, "Well, if we must pass through those lands, we must pass through them. I hope you were right about it not biting us in the ass, Gann."
"Let us pray to the gods of land and river that nobody is home," Gann said.
The farm was surrounded in a high fence, but the gate had been left open - an inauspicious sign for nobody being home. Adahni went first, wiping the hair that had matted to her brow, followed by Okku and Safiya, the hagspawn hanging back. They had no such luck as to the status of the farm. They were assailed immediately by two large gray hounds. They did not bite, but barked and growled, their tails high in the air, waving their master over to see the intruders. Okku let loose a growl that dwarfed those even of those massive hounds, and they retreated, tails between their legs. It was, however, too late, as the farmer had already turned his back on his turnip beds and come to greet the trespassers.
"Have you come to spit on my generosity again, spawn of hags?" he demanded, ignoring the large iridescent bear, the bald wizard-woman, and the suspiciously sweaty foreigner to walk right up to the hagspawn. He poked him hard with two fingers in the sternum, and Gann backed off, shooting a pleading glance at his companions. "I was a fool to offer you my roof and welcoming words before!"
The shove irritated the hagspawn, and he spit back, "I'm not here for your hospitality, Janiik, I am simply passing through on my way to better things."
The farmer stepped back, his eyes blazing. He looked from Safiya, to Okku, and finally settled on Adahni as the one among them who might offer him some sympathy. "He comes to my farm of a winter's night, icicles on his hair, I offer him a meal, to sit by the fire, and to take the stable - all of this and he runs his sickly claws through my daughter's mind!"
Adahni raised her eyebrows, exchanging a glance with Safiya. "Is "stable" a metaphor here...?"
Gann chuckled, "In this case, it is literal. And I prefer the term "harbor," for my size and elegance is more ship than horse."
"Spoken like a man unacquainted with the sheer number of parasites that live on any given ship," Adahni replied, "Or perhaps that was your point... in any case. Tell me, uncle, what is wrong with your daughter?"
"Anya speaks in mumbles, half-words, ever since the visit of that hagspawn - Lost to madness, because of him!"
Gann opened his mouth to speak, but Adahni raised her hand to stay his tongue. Surprisingly, he obeyed.
"I can help with madness, " Adahni said, "But tell me, how do you know that it is the fault of my companion, and not simply a sickness of the brain?"
"She speaks his name as though locked in his sickly embrace. Tell me, hagspawn, if this madness hasn't sprung forth from you, then whence?"
"Like I said, " Adahni said, "I can help with madness, I have a talent of coaxing sanity from the mind, but first I need to speak with her. Perhaps we can get to the bottom of this together."
They followed Janiik into the farmhouse. It was lit poorly from the few windows, but even in the dim light, Adahni could see that it was in dreadful disarray. Spiderwebs filled every corner, dishes piled high in the washing basement, and she imagined if she could see better she would have seen a horde of cockroaches skittering along the walls. She shuddered.
She heard Anya before she saw her, huddled against the cold hearth, rocking back and forth, back and forth. She was pale and gaunt, as though she had not eaten for some time, but with a sharp intake of breath Adahni remembered the woman from her dream. The woman who had appeared in her bedroom in Westharbor, shouting Gann's name.
"I must sleep," she muttered, scratching behind her ear with one filthy fingernail. As Adahni drew closer, the smell told her than this poor girl hadn't had a bath in weeks. "I must sleep, I must sleep, I must sleep." Gann followed her up, holding his nose shut, "Where are you my love? When may I join you?" Then back to rocking, "I must sleep, I must... "Oh Sir Gannayev!" exclaimed Anya, suddenly aware, awake. She rose from the hearth. As she did, Adahni caught a glimpse of lice clinging to the roots her stringy brown hair. She suppressed her gag reflex as long as she could, but the smell ripped right through whatever power Chauntea's Grace had over her constant nausea, and she went running for the outside. She managed to make it outside the fence, out of courtesy to Janiik who had done nothing to her, before retching into the bushes along the side of the path. The old farmer came up to her as she was done and wiping her mouth.
"Please sir," she said, "I meant no offense. I have been unwell..."
"None taken. You see the state he has left her in," he said, "I'm an old man, taking care of the farm and the house and... you get the picture. Is there anything you can do?"
"I will try again to get to the bottom of her madness," Adahni said, "But I'm afraid I'm not in any physical condition to do so at the moment. Please, give us leave to cross your land, I promise I will return when I am stronger. "
"I am in no position to stop you," Janiik said, "I believe you have a decent heart. You cannot have seen the horrors he has committed and let her stay like this."
"You have my word," Adahni said. She extended her hand. The farmer looked at it squeamishly, and she remembered she had just used it to get the vomit off her mouth, "And if you have any spearmint growing, I would be grateful for..."
"Of course," he replied, going to the garden out front and pinched off a sprig for her. She chewed it, and called her companions out to her.
"There's nothing I can do at the moment," Gann announced, "And unless some healer can fix our leader's stomach sensitivity, I doubt she can sit still long enough to sing her a song like she did for Dalenka. But, I have a suspicion about this young woman. I cannot be sure until she wakens of her own accord."
"But we will come back this way," Adahni said, "I've given my word."
They set out across the fields of turnips and carrots, through the gate in Janiik's back fence which brought them back to a path. It took them in a somewhat upward direction. The landscape was extraordinary, the shrubs fragrant and the rock formations dramatic where they rose about the still pools that dotted the land. The pools were still, but not stagnant, their water clear and deep without even a trace of algae.
"The water must move underground," Safiya observed, "For it to look so still and clear."
"Yes, it is quite striking," Gann agreed.
In an instant, the pool they were gazing at moved and grew, spitting forth a herd of telthor woods. Unlike the spirit beasts of Ashenwood, these were hostile. They circled the group, snapping and growling. One jumped at Adahni's throat. Instead of raising her weapon as she normally would have done, the spirit-eater within her reacted, and in concert, she and her curse seized the wolf and drained its essence right there. The other wolves reacted to their alphas death with meek whines and squeaks, and they retreated back into the nothingness from where they had come.
"They were guarding something..." Okku observed, "No... someone. I believe my kin are near."
"Then we will seek their counsel."
They ventured further up the path, and Adahni recognized where the running water sound had been coming from. Small waterfalls ran merrily down the rock face that they came upon, rising above the largest pool that they had seen at that point. Beneath the trees and the waterfall, on a spot where the dry land traversed the pool, stood a cabal of telthor bears. They were larger even than Okku, and they stood in a circle, snout to snout, as though in a meeting.
"Noble Kuma, venerable Wotomo, shake off your dreams and look who has come, with his head hung low in shame," one of them rumbled. He looked up and gazed upon Okku.
"Ancestors..." Okku addressed them.
"Do not claim us as kin!" a second bear, this one female, spat, "Our blood ran thin in your veins, and now it does not run at all."
"Okku Son of Koju," a third spoke, "Do you remember this place as it was? Enough to understand the ruin you have made?"
"Okku, who are these bears?" Adahni asked.
"Ancestors," Okku replied, "Elders of my kind. And Wotomo is-"
"I am his grandfather," the third bear spoke again. In truth, I am the one who sired Okku's father... though my son's spirit has passd to Bhalla's golden woods, and he bathes in these pools no more." Wotomo turned to address Okku, "Better that your father is gone, that he does not know that you lead this race to ruin."
The female bear turned her attention to Okku as well, "Have you not looked for your kin? Have you not wondered where they've gone? Or does this monster who holds your leash not permit you such thoughts?"
Adahni glanced at Okku and then back at the spirit bears. She knew that any creature who would address her compatriots as "honored" and venerable" was unused to anything but having her ego stroked. And so, in her best ego-stroking voice, she replied, "Honored ancestors, if Okku has committed some crime, at least allow him to defend himself."
"Do you remember the fight on the ice, grandson? How you led your clan against the eater of spirits?" Wotomo asked, before Okku had a chance to speak.
"The frozen lakes," he said, "Yes, I dreamed of this. Those memories were strong in my mind when I laid down in my barrow to die."
"Okku told me he fought the previous spirit-eater, and the man spared him."
"My grandson's wounds were deep," Wotomo said, "His spirit bled, and faded."
"He should have come to the Wells to die, as is our law. The Queen of Talking Beasts would have judged his soul, and freed him from his oath. But, Okku chose his oath above our law. He brought the monster to our sacred barrow, to the chamber that was meant for him!"
"The chamber where I awoke, " Adahni observed.
"He brought me to the chamber, and drew runes upon the ground - the same runes you saw when you awoke. When he died and the hunger fled his corpse, it was trapped by the runes. As long as it was trapped, it could not pass to another."
Wotomo made a noise like a bark. "My grandson would have you think that he made a noble sacrifice, spirit-eater, but he knew that he would doom his race." The spirit bear reared on his hind legs, his front paws swiping the air. "Our barrow is a sacred place, a wellspring of dreams. It was poisoned by the monster that was trapped within, and all our race went mad! They perished as wild, slavering brutes!"
"Would it have been better to doom all the spirits of the land to the curse that he trapped within the earth?" Adahni asked.
"I need not explain my reasons to petty, vengeful ghosts. They lured me here, lying in wait, no better than mortal men in the skin of beasts," Okku scoffed.
"Whatever your reasons, Okku son of Koju, you must answer for the death of our race. So say all of the elders."
"Again, I ask you, would it have been better to doom the spirits of the land? Would you have let the spirit-eater run rampant through all the lands of Rashemen, feasting at will? Upon you, perhaps? Upon all of your descendants for eternity?"
Wotomo fell back to four paws and sat on his haunches. He was silent a long moment, chewing on what she had said, "We ... we would not. My grandson is right. We have lingered too long without flesh or fur. Our minds are full of words, not dreams. Let Okku find peace in his own way, if he can. But," and he turned to his grandson, "Do not look for us again. Your decision doomed your race, and now your race must be lost to you. Now, and always."
Okku bowed his head, "Farewell, Grandfather."
With that, one by one, the old bears winked out of existence, off to their eternal hunt in Bhalla's golden wood.
"The day has expired while we have walked among the spirits here," Gann said, "Perhaps we should retire until daylight."
Silently, Safiya set up her marvelous tent, and she and the bear, who was deep in his thoughts, retreated inside it. Adahni stayed up a bit more, chewing on some deer jerky that had been created when Safiya put the remains of a fresh kill in another pouch in the tent - this one containing a pocket plane that was hot and dry enough to preserve meat in only a few days, and sat on a rock, looking at the glassy dark waters of the pool. Gann joined her, seeing her gaze, "This is an ancient place - it is scared to beasts that possess awareness of themselves and their consciousness... like some humans do."
She looked at him, wondering if that was a jab.
"They are gone now, but their spirits and memories remain."
"What memories?" she asked.
"Battle, blood, death... sleep, comfort, life... mating. Their dreams were not different from yours or mine, though some of their senses were keener. They bathed in these wells, and it soothed them, but it also mirrored their memories and thoughts."
"Not with the eyes with which you see the world, but the dreamer's eye..." he said, "Take a drink, if you would see what they saw, know what they knew." He knelt beside the pool and cupped his broad hands, letting the clear water run into it. Rising, he held them, cupped, to her lips. Not thinking, she opened her mouth, and let the cold liquid run over her tongue. He withdrew his hands, and brought them to his own mouth, draining the rest from them. His alarmingly pink tongue darted out between blue lips to catch the drops that ran down his chin.
It was the last image she remembered before the world melted away. She was aware of her knees buckling, and prepared herself to hit the hard dirt of the pathway, but instead she fell, and fell. When she came to, she found that she was again in a very new, very strange place within her own mind.