Nettie widened her eyes. It seemed like she would like to flee, but she simply turned away.
« Come. »
The group followed her. She led them in a room on the opposite of the one they had come from. It was similar to the last, with a wolf statue in its center. Recesses ornated with shelves full of tablets were all around the room. While the door was closing behind them, Barroca was filled with wonder at all the knowledge that was stored there, by all she would be able to discover about druidic magic. She barely noticed the drow corpse that was on a stone table.
« This one, he was also infected » Nettie said gesturing towards it with her head.
She wasn't letting her eyes from them.
« The parasite killed him ? » Barroca asked, wincing at the corpse's view.
« No, Master Halsin did it. »
The bard wasn't reassured. The thought of being killed by this Master Halsin didn't seem more pleasant than being transformed.
« He could remove it in an instant, but I will have to do with what I have. »
« We would like something less radical. » the bard said.
« Don't worry, I have what you need. Come near, I need you to be close. And alone » the healer answered glancing at Gale.
« I can allow you some more space, but I won't let Barroca alone » he answered.
« Well, it doens't matter. »
Nettie and Barroca backed down a little more, near a stone table full of phials and papers. Nettie was trying to hold back her hands which were shaking, but her stare was glowing with a light that deceived no one. No doubt that she was terrorized at the idea of taking care of such an ailment alone. She turned to face the table and she searched something on it. When she faced Barroca again, she was keeping her hands behind her back.
« First, I need some informations. Did you felt strange symptoms ? »
« Not as far as I know » the bard thought. « Aside from the fact that I can communicate by... telepathy with the others. »
« Interesting... So you're able to recognize each other... And how did you get this monster ? Master Halsin was desperately searching for the source of it. »
« I was abducted, and they inserted the tadpole in the ship. »
« Abducted you said ? But Master Halsin thought that... »
Barroca frowned.
« I don't want to look impolite, but you're asking a lot of questions... It would be better to find your Master Halsin before doing anything at all, what do you think ? »
« He would be the best, but he's not here, you'll have to be happy with me. It's that, this thing is not only a threat for you. You could kill everyone around here. »
The bard shivered. Nettie was right, if she were to transform, she would become a mind flayer, a monster. This reminded her of why she was travelling, why she was doing researches. She was reminded of why she left Waterdeep, and then Baldur's Gate. She didn't want all what she had done to be in vain.
« Listen, I trust you, really » she said raising her tone without meaning to. « So try to trust me, at least a little bit. I haven't transform. I still have questions that I need an answer to, about my life, about myself. I just want to get out of it. »
She had said these words in a single breath. She stopped for a second before breathing normally again.
« I already said to your colleague that I'll try to find your master. Gale, I think that it is our only chance. »
The wizard nodded. At those words, Nettie put a branch on the table behind her and then she searched for something in her purse. She pulled out a phial from it, then she held it. Barroca observed the fluorescent green liquid into it. It wasn't apple juice, for sure. She threw an interrogating stare to the dwarf.
« You seem to be someone good, and if you succeed to find Master Halsin, you'll do the best service to the grove, and to me. In the phial, it is wyvern poison. Swear that you'll swallow it if things turn bad. »
« I swear it » Barroca said, lamely.
The atmosphere relaxed. Nettie sat on a stone stool, and the door opened again in a bluish sliding.
« I'm sorry, but all of that is just crazy. All these infected people, we tried to find as much as we can with Master Halsin, to study them. What we're sure, it's that they're all converging on an old temple of Selune. He went there, with the adventurers, but he never came back. Good luck, and don't forget your oath. »
Before going out of the cavern, Gale and Barroca were greeted by the halfling they had rescued before, and they found again Shadowheart in front of the sacred pool. They decided to explain later what they had learned. From now, they had to be discreet about their infection, to avoid other reaction like Nettie's. On the return to the camp, they bumped into a particularly nervous boar, a druid who was talking with a bird and a man wearing bright coloured clothes who was questionning a bear. This place didn't run out of curiosities for someone coming from the city. At the bottom of a downward way, a bear was complaining while fishing.
« No, still not him... There is the men's smell, but not his... »
« Who are you searching ? » Barroca asked.
« Master Halsin, he left with these men. He won't come back... »
« What is making you say that ? »
« I don't feel his smell. I feel the men, but not him. »
The bard kneeled next to it. The place was smelling fish, which the animal was piling up on the shore.
« He will come back, I'm sure of it » she said to the bear, smiling at it.
« How ? And who are you ? »
« I am Barroca. »
« Ormn is my name. Now, I must keep on searching. Take a fish. »
The bear went away, and they took back the road, one more fish in their bag of supplies. They went out of the grove and they joined their camp. Lae'zel had alread lit a fire, in which was burning a huge log. The smell of grilled meat was filling the place, a delicious aroma that didn't fail to give them an appetite. The githyanki was here, devoring a rib with bare hands. When she noticed the other's arrival, she wiped her mouth with an arm and got up with the other. Astarion came closer too, a hand on his dagger, the other on his hip. Lastly, Wyll had settled not far from Gale's tent, a cup in his hand. The two others were staring at them with a questioning stare, waiting for them to make the report of what they had seen and heard.
« Greetings, you had already eaten from what I can see » the bard tried nicely.
« You took a lot of time, for not more than nothing » Lae'zel answered with her usual sharpness.
« And you, you left so quickly » Shadowheart replied.
The tone already rose between the two women. There couldn't be a discussion between them without an argument. Barroca hoped that they wouldn't need a mediator for too much time.
« We have news » she said to distract them. « We found someone who could help us. »
« Useless » Lae'zel tossed. « The teethling showed me the place where he saw my people, not far from the mountain pass. »
« Same as jumping into the lion's den » Shadowheart replied.
Barroca sighed and left. She didn't want to rise her voice, to intervene. Maybe they will end up fighting, it wasn't impossible, and she didn't want to be there to see it. She thought about leaving for a moment, but how could she do well alone ? Her companions were all fighters, but her ? A simple bard without any experience. The voice were still ringing around the camp fire, and she had sat under a huge tree, her legs folded against her chest. A rustling in the leaves caught her attention, and she saw a squirrel climbing beyond the branches. After long minutes, she was joined by Wyll, leaning on the trunk. Then Gale sat in front of her.
« I give up » the wizard said. « The two of them are insane. »
« Could I know what you discover with the druids ? It interests me » Wyll asked.
« The First Druid could help us, be he disappeared. We ought to search for him » Barroca said.
« It won't be easy, Lae'zel is determined to go for the mountain pass... » Gale added.
There was a silence, as if they hadn't thought about that. In their situation, they all needed each other, and if they didn't agree on the direction to take the adventure risked getting complicated. The cries had seemed to stop around the camp fire, and Shadowheart had joined them stealthily. She seemed annoyed, her arms firmly crossed, but her face stayed impassive.
« We didn't have to make the road with Lae'zel » Wyll said.
« He's right » the cleric said hastily. « Concerning myself, I follow you. I trust you much more than I trust her. »
« Lae'zel may be a ferocious warrior, but I prefer to rely on you. I know to which extend words can become powerful allies, and not only to cast spells » Gale said.
« The team is getting bigger, and if we added our snake charmer ? » Wyll continued. « What do you say, Barroca ? »
She looked at him dumbfounded, her mouth mid-opened. She was surprised by his invitation. She would never had believed that they could want her in their little group, but this got her smile back. She was touched by this words, « snake charmer » wasn't so bad for a title. But maybe they should find something else in the future. She nodded and raised on her feet, straight, ready to take the road again.
« I'm with you » she said with slight enthusiasm.
« Well, here is our team. Goblins, tremble, here we are ! » Wyll chanted.
« Maybe we shouldn't claim victory too fast, Wyll » Shadowheart tossed, her arms still glued on her chest. « Our chances of survival are still low, even if we fight well. »
« A brave swordsman, a dark cleric, a delicate bard, and a talented wizard. It couldn't be better, don't you think ? » Gale said with enthusiasm.
Each of them joined his couch. They had decided to stay at camp for the rest of the afternoon, to prepare for tomorrow's journey. Barroca was relieved to not be alone anymore officialy in this quest. She hardly knew these people, but they showed her that she could trust them, at least for the moment. She felt asleep.