AUTHORS NOTE
Slyksylva - Not *exactly* illegal as such. It's one of those situations where the inquisitors might... 'kidnap' her to question and 're-educate' her, guards and other people of civil authority would overlook it.. but it isn't illegal per se.
Havok22- I bet Sharein's mum has a LOT more stories ;-)
Archer1Eye - The Angry Mob! There were guards and other townspeople around when Shard came to Sharein during the Easthaven battle. Yes, the black hair makes her VERY distinct. Aloise is the least helicopter parent without being negligent :) Verbally? No, the inquisitors are essentially religious paramilitary fanatics.
Chapter 79? Day of High Summer? 768 n.c?
I rode out of the camp and skirted Sunhaven to the south. I caught a glimpse of yellow uniforms running towards the collection of tents and shacks and hoped that my family wouldn't be in too much trouble. I wondered at who would have reported my presence to them and why they did. The horse's hoof falls were muffled in the mud and they did not appear to hear me at all.
I slowed down once I was what I thought to be far enough away from the town, I had followed the path that Malkarov and I had taken to get to Castlemere but veered off into the open fields once I was clear of the farms. I stayed within sight of the road and ended up camping for the night underneath a large oak tree. As I lay under the tree looking up at Luna through its branches my mind wandered. It was so peaceful, yet I couldn't relax. Every noise, every bit of movement attracted my attention. I thought of Shard and pined for her presence, her voice, her love. I was sure that if she were there, beside me, that I'd be able to sleep. That I wouldn't be flinching at non-existent orcs behind the trees, I would be hearing foxes rather than Inquisitors approaching through the grass and the ache of crossbow bolts in me would be a mere memory of pain instead of a feeling as raw as the moment it happened. I was feeling strange, as if I were standing on the edge of a high cliff and alert to every change around me as any shift of wind would threaten my balance.
I couldn't say how long it took to eventually fall asleep but when I woke in the morning I ate a quick meal and then tiredly got on my way.
I pictured Sister Terra's map and knew that I could get to Allarth by heading south to the Barrier Mountains and then turning west. I'd have to skirt around the pass that separated Carn from the Ork lands, in the Baronocracy of Oscura, then continue until I got to Hillwaeholm in the Baronocracy of Darven. Near Hillwaeholm there was another gap in the Barrier Mountains that allowed passage into Allarth. Although the Baronocracy of Darven was much smaller than the rest, it made a lot of money through taxes on merchants passing through from one kingdom to another.
Travelling along the mountains would keep me away from potential detention by the Inquisitors of the Light, but I would also be all alone and far from civilisation for most of the journey. The alternative was to travel by or close to the roads, there were many villages and townships that I would pass by and the roads were occasionally patrolled by guardsmen and soldiers belonging to the local Baron or Baroness. That would increase the risk of getting caught though, so in the end I decided to turn south and brave the wilderness. I would normally be a little worried at finding enough to eat, but I had enough to last for a little while and the rest I would be able to pray to Tenebrae for. I knew that she would grant the prayer to Create Food and Drink when I needed it.
I followed a small creek that seemed to be flowing down from the mountains and reached the foothills of the mountains sometime after midday. I stopped for lunch and filled up a waterskin from the stream. The water was chilled and clear, it washed down my meal of dried, cured meat perfectly. I turned towards the west once I had finished and continued my journey riding parallel to the great mountain range stretching up through the clouds beside me. The area I was riding through was lightly wooded with larger open plains filled with wildflowers. It was a really beautiful place and I wished that I could have been able to share it with Shard. Once night fell, I began to look for a place to shelter the night and I found a cave in the mountainside after only a short search. I checked carefully to ensure that it wasn't already occupied, caves could easily be the home to animals or worse. Thankfully, it wasn't occupied and didn't have a smell of recent occupation either. I collected some firewood from around the nearby trees and brought it back to the cave and brought the horse into the cave as well to keep it safe. The horse was a little hesitant to be inside until I managed to light the fire, then it calmed down a little. I cooked some cured pork on white hot coals and heated up a jar of fermented cabbage. The dinner was delicious and very filling. I lay out on the floor of the cave, rested my head on my pack and was able to fall asleep much quicker than the previous night.
I was woken during the night by a noise outside of the cave, the horse had heard it as well and was quietly whinnying in distress. I rolled over, stood up and snuck to the mouth of the cave. Two creatures were walking towards the cave! They were large humanoids, with one about twice as high as myself with a huge belly that bulged grotesquely and the other almost three times as high as me but thin and gangly. They both had mossy green wart covered skin, thick black greasy hair and large noses that stuck out from their faces. They wore furred loin cloths and their hands ended in inch long black claws. They grunted at each other and gestured towards my cave and I realised with a start that they had spotted the glow from the dying embers of my fire! The light from the fire and the smell of smoke may have kept away smaller predators, but had instead attracted the attention of larger ones.
These two large creatures shambled towards me, their gait uneven and their shoulders hunched over so that their hands dragged along the ground leaving two furrows in the soft earth. I doubted that I would be able to hide or dissuade either of these creatures, who looked like they were more likely to eat me than talk. From my partially covered position I cast Elemental Explosion at them and watched as the black light explosion engulfed them. I was a little worried when they came out of the sphere of negative energy at an increased speed! I cast another Elemental Explosion at them as they neared me and cheered when it cleared, they both lay there on the ground; their bodies shrunk and sunken in the signature effect of my spell.
I was standing there in the cave mouth, wondering whether I should move or their corpses would dissuade anything else from approaching for the rest of the night when a movement caught my eye. Something had moved near the corpses. I watched as the two bodies seemed to… re-inflate. Then an arm twitched and before I knew it both of the creatures were once again standing!
They couldn't die or did they come back to life? I tried to think of any stories that I may have heard and the only thing that I could think of that came close (and didn't involve necromancers and undead) were… trolls.
I cast another Elemental Explosion, which knocked them back down and gave me a few moments to try to remember what I knew about them.
They were fast and agile creatures, extremely vicious predators who would happily eat an entire person even while they were still alive. I remembered one story where a troll's severed limbs all crawled back to it's torso and re-attached, but I couldn't for the life of me remember how it died!
They twitched again and I cast yet another Elemental Explosion at the two of them to give myself a little bit more time. I only had a few options through spells; my seeming affected all of my elemental spells, so obviously those were out of the question except to keep them down temporarily. I could also cast Magic Missile, Poison Spray, Acid Splash and Lightning Bolt. I'd just have to try all of them. I cast Lightning Bolt on one of the trolls and as the tall one started to twitch I cast Magic Missile at that one. Then I approached cautiously due to the close range nature of the other two spells. Neither moved for a few moments, but when the tall one started to move again I cast Poison Spray at it. It stopped moving and I stayed staring at the two. I realised then that they were both still breathing! I was close enough to see their chests rise and fall so I cast Acid Splash at the tall one. As the acid burnt it's rubbery skin with a hiss and putrid green smoke writhed out of the festering, bubbling holes; the troll shuddered and exhaled a long ragged breath. I waited and watched, but it did not breath in again.
Suddenly the world turned upside down and my head banged onto the ground! I let out a scream as I felt something take hold of my ankle. I was hoisted in the air with such force and speed that my limbs flailed painfully. All of a sudden I was face to face with a grotesquely smiling and drooling troll! It licked it's bumpy, sore filled lips and I reacted immediately. I summoned the magic of Acid Splash and expressed it straight into the monster's face! Immediately I was flying through the air and I had enough presence of mind to brace for the eventual fall. The preparation did not seem to do anything, for I hit the ground with enough force to push the air from my lungs and leave me on the ground blacking out.
I woke in the morning, feeling incredibly sore but extremely happy to still be alive. I prayed to Tenebrae to Cure Moderate Wounds and immediately felt better as the prayer spread through my body with a feeling that… well... I had last felt with Shard. I turned my head to look towards where the Trolls last were and screamed when I saw its outstretched claws a scant handbreadth from my face! It hadn't died straight away, but had obviously come after me and almost got me while I was unconscious! I tried to roll away from the creature, but I was right up against a rock cliff-face near the cave entrance. I scrambled upright and ran into the cave, thankful that my horse was still there. It blinked at me nonchalantly and went back to nosing around inside my pack. I snatched my pack away and the horse neighed at me unhappily. The horrid thing had eaten all of the redcap mushrooms I had collected and broken one of the jars containing preserved carrots! I emptied out the pack in frustration, laying smelly sodden clothes onto rocks. When I threw the few remaining carrots away the horse happily moved to pluck them up from the ground. It even managed to neigh triumphantly. I wrung out the clothes that had soaked up the most pickling water and then repack my bag, while munching on a piece of dried meat. Once that was done, I tacked up the horse and got once more on my way. The horse was a bit hesitant to walk near the corpses of the trolls, so I allowed it to take a wide berth back towards the trees before continuing westward.
It was on the third day of riding that I sighted a large stone tower stretching high over the horizon. It was a huge thing, built right next to the high cliff-face so that it almost seemed to be a part of the mountain itself. From its right hand side, a tall wall stretched far out into the distance occasionally interrupted by smaller square towers that stuck up slightly higher than the wall either side of it.
I was a little curious to inspect a bit closer, but decided to begin my wide skirting of the pass. I kept the towers and walls within distance sight but turned more northwesterly to bypass the area. I had passed about fifteen of the smaller towers and was almost adjacent to another large tower when a group of horsemen rode out from near the tower. I kept an eye on them briefly and then stopped riding when they abruptly turned and began riding straight towards me.
