Aerie met Lidia and Valygar at the entrance to the wolfwere's lair. She was frantic and wringing her hands. "Yoshimo — he got up and started crawling along the floor. He didn't seem as though he knew where he was, or who he was —"
Yoshimo himself was halfway down the tunnel, curled against the left wall of cold stone, his face turned away from the flickering light at camp. Though Yoshimo was in better shape than he was an hour ago, he still seemed pale, drawn, and shaken.
But he called to them, his voice seemingly stronger: "I was asleep and awoke confused, thinking I was still in some dream. It was a passing fit, and nothing more."
"It's not nothing," Lidia said. "Let me take a look."
Lidia knelt down next to him, then asked, "How are you holding up?"
He shivered. "Something…something was outside."
Lidia fetched Yoshimo's worn blanket, which had fallen off of him as he'd crawled away, and drew it over him. She said, "Yes, it was. How did you know?"
"I'm not certain I knew so much as I felt it." He pulled the blanket closer about him. "I was taken by a sudden chill. It passed a few minutes ago."
"It was the missing ranger. Merella. She seems to have been turned into some kind of undead creature — not sure what. Come to think of it, you said you'd seen something like it a few nights ago."
He listlessly glanced towards the darkness, nodding. "Her feet did not touch the ground," he said, almost to himself. "And that whisper…"
Lidia parsed this for a moment, then decided to move to more immediately practical matters. "Here, let me see your arm."
She gently rolled up his sleeve and examined where the wound had been. Healing spells, if one worked quickly and cleanly enough, usually left no scar, and this was the case here.
Yoshimo said, "Anomen also worked some kind of spell that seemed to take care of the rest — at least, until now."
Lidia's brow furrowed, but she said nothing.
"I take it you've never heard of such a thing happening," he said.
"I haven't," she admitted.
"Ah. Well, if our best efforts can only go so far, then that is that," he said. There was no trace of fear in his voice. "Don't linger here on my account. Only come and collect me before the wolves do."
"Don't talk like that. You're getting out of here, one way or the other," Lidia said.
"Thank you," he said. His head drooped slightly to one side; he seemed tired already from this conversation. "That is…that is far more than I deserve."
"Nonsense. We'd never have made it out of Irenicus's lab without you."
At Irenicus's name, he let out a slow sigh. He seemed to relax, and his eyelids closed.
"Is he…is he all right?" Aerie asked, pulling Lidia aside and keeping her voice low.
"I wish I knew," Lidia said. "Something's still wrong. Tell me what you and Anomen cast on him."
"Of — of course," Aerie said. She counted off on her fingers."First we healed up his wound. Then I tried detecting any magic emanating from him. There was something — it was coming off of him almost like heat; he lit right up when I worked the spell. So then we tried removing any curses, dispelling any magic on him, and then finally a restoration spell. Do you think we missed anything?"
Lidia briefly considered whether saying anything further was wise, especially if it caused Aerie further worry. Still, Aerie had made it this far out here. Coddling her now, she thought, would be insulting, even if Aerie likely wouldn't take it that way.
"No," Lidia finally said. "I wouldn't have thought to detect magic on him first, but it was a good idea. As for everything else, both of you were thorough. Still…"
She knelt down next to Yoshimo, called his name, and gently shook him awake.
His eyelids eased open. "Aye?"
"You've been prodded enough for one day," Lidia said, "but I'm going to try one more spell, if you don't mind."
He shook his head, still somewhat asleep.
Aerie leaned over. "What are you going to do?" she asked.
"Cast a ward against evil influence," Lidia replied. "I hope I'm wrong, but if not — this might sting a bit."
She placed a hand on his shoulder, cleared her mind, and the power rushed through and around her, as though she were a stone in a river. It left in her a sense of calm and clarity in its wake.
The effect on Yoshimo, however, was quite the opposite. He flinched, as though her touch burned, and let out a cry of pain.
Fortunately, it lasted for only a moment, and before long, he'd fallen asleep again, exhausted.
Aerie's pale, smooth face crossed with worry. "That's not supposed to happen."
"No," Lidia said. "But it tells me everything I need to know. His affliction is magical, and we're dealing with a dark power beyond any of us."
"It's this…this Shade Lord, isn't it? What can we do?"
"We end this as quickly as we can." In her mind, Lidia tried again to account for how long they'd spent out here. Without the sun to keep track, the hours all blurred together.
She continued, "The others should be up in a few hours. We've spent enough time here — we'll need to push ahead."
"How can we do that, when Yoshimo can't even stand?" Aerie asked.
"We'll have to find some way to take him with us," Lidia said. "I'd rather not force him to travel, but we may not have any choice."
Some hours passed, marked only by changing the watches and throwing another log or two on the fire. Regardless of whether or not they still slept, the members of Gorion's Company kept all their lamps lit.
Lidia stayed awake, even after her watch had passed. The Laws and Customs of Amn was open in her hand, in a vain hope that studying by the firelight would distract her. This time, however, she found herself staring at the words without really comprehending them, her ears and mind tuned instead to the howling, consuming darkness outside.
And the only escape now was hurling oneself into it.