2nd Day of Early Autumn 768 n.c
I woke late, stirred from my very good dreams by the movement of the sun through the shutters to settle directly on my lidded eyes. Karalin was still asleep, curled up into a ball next to me. I got up carefully and sat on the chair in front of the dresser to brush out my hair and tie it back. I got dressed and decided that I didn't need to hurry for breakfast, still feeling full from the feast the night before. I took out a few pieces of parchment, a bottle of ink, quill, and Karalin's old girdle of femininity, cast Detect Magic and began to work on the rune scheme for my own versions.
Karalin started to stir at about the time I had completed copying what I could of the girdle's rune scheme, looking over at her revealed that the dreaded ray of sun that had ended my blissful rest was now shining in her eyes. She squinted and grunted and rolled over, which caused me to giggle a bit and her to make a rude gesture in my general direction. When she finally got up and had finished using the chamber pot, I had her come and kneel in front of me so that I could brush her hair for her.
"What's that?" she asked, after I had untangled one particularly large knot that had caused her a little pain.
"Oh," I said, following her gaze, "it's the rune scheme for a girdle of femininity, mostly. I still need to figure out which part actually controls the sex change and there is a bit missing that I'm…. honestly not sure what it does. But once I'm finished, I'll be able to copy it onto leather and form it into a belt. I think that the two bits on the ends have to go all the length of the belt and link up with the belt buckle, so that it only activates once done up."
A sudden realisation dawned on me and I let out a triumphant "yes!" at the same time Karalin let out a pained 'ow!". In my excitement I had accidentally pulled the brush down and caught a knot.
"Sorry! Sorry!" I apologised as Karalin indignantly demanded, "what?"
"I just realised," I explained, "that bit that is missing must be to detect whether there is or isn't a person wearing the belt. Otherwise the magic would be expanded just by doing up the buckle and if it's done up without putting it around anybody first, well that would be a waste."
"So…" Karalin said with a smile, "it would be a waste if it activated when not around somebody's waist?"
"That's what I just…" I began before I realised her joke and let out a groan, this caused her to cackle with laughter.
We headed down to breakfast after getting dressed and presentable, finding Piar already there and waiting for us.
"My Lady," he greeted me, "the Inn's cooks have some pancake mixture ready to go on, but would be happy to make you egg turnovers if you would prefer?"
"Thank you Piar," I told him and in response to Karalin's questioning look, I suggested, "a serve of both, if it's not too much trouble."
"Of course, My Lady," he said with a slight bow and before he left he asked, "if I may know your plans, My Lady?"
"We plan to pack up and head out after breakfast. We will head directly to where the river meets the mountains and investigate its source before visiting the altar that is our purpose here, then we will head south," I explained.
He nodded happily, "I shall have people come to load up your horses and pack some provisions."
"That would be greatly appreciated," I thanked him, in answer to which he bowed slightly and wished us a good journey.
Breakfast was delicious, pancakes with fruit and berries just as Mother taught me to make them and egg turnovers filled with delicious cheeses, pork and vegetables. Karalin was quite impressed and we shared the offerings, even if it drew a few raised eyebrows from the people working in the Inn.
Afterwards, we got ourselves ready and our horses packed with fresh provisions provided by the village. The whole town gathered to see us off and Piar brought forward a young lad and gently pushed him towards us with both hands on his shoulders.
"My Lady, this is Janpul, the farmer boy who saw the orcs head into the barrier mountains," Piar informed us, "he will head out with you and hide himself in the forest while you investigate the cave. If you come out to signal that the situation is… resolved, he will run back here to inform us. In that way, you won't be delayed on your own quest."
"That's very thoughtful of you," I said to Piar loudly, who seemed to preen at the praise, "we shall be sure to end this threat to Ildra."
With that the entire village erupted in a loud cheer and the lad, Janpul began walking ahead of us to show the way.
He led us south-eastward, towards the large mountains that we could see rising up out of the forests. It wasn't long before we were out of sight of the people, the farms and even the village, with a path winding its way between huge trees that stretched far up into the sky. Their trunks were so wide that even the three of us hand in hand would have only stretched but a fraction of the way. They stretched up and up without a single branch until right up near the top where the tree spread out majestically to provide such a canopy that prevented all but the tiniest slivers of light from filtering through. The plants that grew beneath these trees were of a kind that I had not seen in the forests of Carn. Large green fronds spread out from the tops of furry trunks, where the spiky remains of past season's fronds still remained nearer the top. Smaller plants with large flat green leaves sprung up where water dropping down from the canopy overhead could be collected. Broken branches or logs were all covered with bright green mosses or large plate-like fungi. Clumps of toadstools or mushrooms grew up from tree trunks or patches of soil, in all varieties of colours and patterns. There was a thick, musty smell to the air as we travelled along the path that was growing less and less worn as we travelled.
Janpul didn't say a word to us, possibly due to arithna, but walked resolutely forward with only the occasional glance backwards to ensure that we were still following. Karalin and I didn't say much to each other as we rode, except to point out the strange flora that fascinated and surprised each of us.
We came across the river eventually and turned to follow it as it cut through the forest from the north-east. After only a short while of following the river however, Janpul stopped and raised his hands. We reigned in our horses and watched as he turned around to put his finger to his lips. He pointed into the distance, where we could see a slight rise in the land and a sort of rocky overhang near the side of our path. I saw under the overhang a slight movement and heard a loud snoring noise.
"Ogre," Karalin whispered.
Janpul moved back slowly to stand behind our horses as Karalin nocked an arrow to her bow. I cast Haste on my companion, a spell that would allow her to act twice as fast as usual.
"Loose as quickly as you can," I whispered to her, "and I will try to keep it contained."
I quickly used Tenebrae's granted power to cast Blindness onto the ogre, something that did not wake it up but would ensure confusion when it did. My next course of action was to cast the same spell onto the ogre that I had used on the bandits the day before. Webs sprung up around the ogre, trapping it in place in an effective cocoon. It stirred as Karalin loosed her first arrow that flew unerringly towards its target and stuck into its arm. It let out a roar of pain and tried to swing its arm out, but struggled against its bonds. A second and a third arrow followed in quick succession joining the first in different parts of the creature's vast bulk. It wasn't until the fourth and fifth arrows stuck into the creature's head, however, that the creature stilled and became quiet.
We were moving slowly closer, carefully in case it was just playing at being dead, when another ogre came bursting out of the plants on top of the overhang and jumped down upon us with a roar!
Our horses both reared up at the shock and while Karalin managed to keep hold of hers, I fell off mine and landed heavily on my shoulder. I rolled sideways, lest the horse came down on top of me and jarred my shoulder with each revolution. I landed on my back and was trying to blink off the bursts of light that flashed in front of my eyes when the orge loomed over me. It was a gigantic thing and was carrying a huge club in its warty, dirty hand. It raised this club (although it was more of a slightly modified tree trunk), over its head and was ready to bring it straight down on top of me when it paused. Its eyes suddenly crossed and a puzzled look came across its face. The club fell out of its hand with a thud and it briefly looked down at it before keeling over to the side. It fell face forward and I was able to see the three arrows that were sticking out of the base of its skull, angled upwards such that they entered into its brain.
"Are you alright Sharein?" Karalin breathed out heavily as she rushed to my side, kneeling down to lift up my head a little.
I gave her as big a smile as I could manage, "much better now, thanks to you."
She let out a sigh of relief, "I really did think that it had you just then. Foul creatures, ogres. But don't thank me too much, it was your spell that allowed me to put those three arrows there."
I realised that I could no longer feel the haste spell, and it had likely been disrupted since I fell.
"Not me, that was all you," I explained, "the spell ended, I think, the moment I hit my head on the ground."
She looked in amazement at the bow next to her, then glanced around, "where's Janpul?" She asked in shock.
I sat up, and ignoring the sudden vertigo, looked around. I could see no sign of Janpul, nor the horses, anywhere. Likely they had just run a short distance, or the horses bolted in fright, but I fought down the worry that he may be running all the way back to the village.
"Janpul!" Karalin shouted and was rewarded with a noise, but not the noise we had hoped for.
A shrieking sound came from deeper into the forest, not the sound of a person in fright, but a high pitched cacophony that grated on our ears and sent shivers down our spines.
"Shrieker fungi!" Karalin shouted, "Janpul or the horses must have disturbed a patch of them! We have to be quick!"
She lifted me up and began to run in the direction that the noise was coming from, I stumbled after her.
"Quick, quick!" She urged, "we'll be lucky if it's only shriekers!"
There was another overhang, a larger one, that opened up into a clearing. The darkness under the rock was deep, but nothing to me with Tenebrae's blessing. There were a patch of ten large mushrooms with purple stalks and pink and purple caps. They rose up about three to four feet tall. Most seemed to have holes in their caps but a few of them didn't. Instead they had long, thin purple tentacles stretching out from under their caps that were flailing around blindly. The horses were on either side of the overhang, pushed up against the walls of the cave and about to bolt out towards us. Janpul had been caught by one of the fungi, with multiple tentacles wrapped around his leg. He was trying to claw at the ground and pull himself away but wasn't strong enough.
"One of those things has Janpul in its tentacles!" I told Karalin, whose first response was to curse loudly.
"May all light end!" She spat, and I almost stopped in shock at the unfamiliar curse, "that's not a shrieker, it's a Violet fungus! If its tentacles touch you, your flesh will rot off the bone!"
She ran forward until she had good sight of the Violet Fungus and drew her bow, loosing an arrow almost immediately as she stopped. I considered my options and with consideration to the tight space and locations of Janpul and the horses, settled upon a Magic Missile spell. Four glowing bolts appeared in the air beside me as I brought forth the magic and I set them straight on to the Violet Fungus that had Janpul in its grasp. My glowing bolts disappeared after contact, leaving holes in the plant, while Karalin's arrows remained. Its tentacles drooped and it seemed to release Janpul, who began to drag himself away from it. He screamed every time he moved, every time his leg dragged along the rough ground. More Magic Missiles and more arrows stopped the movements of the other three Violet Fungi.
"Are those other ones dangerous?" I asked Karalin.
"Not immediately," she answered, "they just shriek. Creatures may get attracted to the noise, but anything intelligent will likely know to stay away from them. We need to get Janpul back to the village though, his leg will need to be cut off, and soon."
One of the horses ran towards us, but slowed when it got near and the others followed.
Karalin rushed in to take hold of Janpul and dragged him farther away, until the noisome fungus ceased their alarmed discord.
His pants had ovoid holes in them, long and thin, where the cotton seemed to have been eaten away and underneath there was a purplish slime coating the exposed flesh. This flesh underneath had turned black and a putrid smell arose from it. Karalin took two skins from the saddlebags of her horse and splashed wine onto his leg first of all, then water. The wine seemed to loosen and break up the slime and the water washed it away.
I lay my hands on his legs, away from the slime and whispered my prayer to Tenebrae, first to Cure Disease and secondly to Cure Light Wounds. The divine magic worked, firstly removing the black putrid flesh, then healing the wound back to normal, smooth skin. He let out an awkward grunt and immediately blushed bright red and crossed his hands over his groin.
"Do you need a moment?" I asked him jokingly and Karalin choked back a laugh.
"My Lady!" he exclaimed, then stammered, "I mean, no My Lady, no. Thank you My Lady."
The poor lad was very flustered and extremely embarrassed, so I didn't press any further and let him get himself sorted in peace while we pulled together the horses again.
Once we were collected once more, we continued back to the river and stopped briefly to investigate the cave the Ogre was in. Animal bones littered the floor but Karalin spotted one long bone with dried stinking meat still attached that was more human shaped but too long and thick for a regular human.
"Orc bone," she said.
Against one wall of the overhang were the twisted remains of a suit of banded armour and a wicked looking sword that had been bent across itself. Three small ingots of silver were amongst the refuse there, possibly once belonging to the unfortunate orc. I passed one to Karalin and gave one to Janpul, which he immediately tried to reject. I "pulled rank" and forced it into his hand though, before instructing him to continue guiding us to the cave.
"The presence of even one orc here is still one orc too many," I told him, "we must hurry, lest more orcs come through in force."
It wasn't much farther before we began to see the face of the mountain looming ahead of us through the trees. Soon we could see the cave that Janpul had spotted the orc exiting from. We tied up the horses and instructed the lad to stay with them while we went to investigate the cave.
AUTHORS NOTES:
Sorry everyone for the huuuuge wait.
I'm still alive, but have just been very very very time poor :(
angel23ramirez, tamarayan97 and fechoritas! Thanks SO SO much for the author favourite!
H3LLF1R31105, thanks for the story follow!
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