Come the morning, the rain had stopped and for good or ill, no one had been ravished.
The rain promptly started falling again after they finished breakfast and preparing to leave.
"The world," Maria said, staring out at the rain, "is a vile and terrible place. It should be consumed in flame so that a new, better world can be painted in its place."
"That would be messy," Rafael noted as the carriage approached. Maria wondered why so many people were staring furtively at her carriage, whispering and pointing from across the street. Surely they'd seen a carriage before? "Lots of ash to clean up and such."
Maria sighed as the got inside, and arranged the little luggage they'd brought into the inn. "Do you ever wonder where all the ash went? They say ash covered the world, for all things had been consumed, and even the mountains leveled."
Rafael shrugged. "Maybe what we think of as the ground are the branches of archtrees, and all the ash is far below under the abyss? I've never been good with mythology."
Maria hummed noncommittally as they all got settled in and the carriage started to move, and she and Miss Shelley once more used the magic tool to ascertain that her mother hadn't moved.
As the journey wore on, the rain continued, leaving Maria to wonder if the Age of Fire had ended because it had gotten drenched and had been too much trouble to rekindle. The third day's journey necessitated a detour, as the rain had caused a landslide, blocking the road and forcing them to take an alternate route. Fortunately, the new road, while a long diversion, had better paving, meaning they almost made up the time going another way. The croaking of basilisks could be heard on occasion as they passed the occasional waterlogged swamp in the distance, but fortunately none came close enough to bother them, though Maria did see their bulbous false eyes bobbing far away, just before being eaten by a giant crab.
Maria took to brazenly sleeping with her fiancé at the inns they stayed at, offering no excuse or explanation. Their other companions never brought it up, though Rafael studiously avoided looking at them in the morning and Larna just grinned widely but didn't say anything. After that first night, Maria didn't press further, but suffice to say no ravishing occurred in the subsequent nights.
The night before they would arrive at the area of their destination– a small town called Hinderstap, beside Alken lake, at the foot of the Blue Sentinel mountains– Maria laid out her armory. Her saber, her shortsword, her single-shot pistol, the prototype six-shot pistol and rifle, and three earthen pots sealed with wax that were improvised grenades. Solemnly, she began loading the cylinders with bullet and powder.
Rafael watched her from the bed, listening for the end of rain. "How much of a fight are you expecting?" he asked as he watched her load the weapons.
"I don't know," Maria said. "But in the worst case, everyone in town might be under the control of Dark Magic, to be thrown at us in waves. Best to be ready."
She heard him got off them bed and move to stand behind her. Maria glanced over her shoulder, and saw him frowning down at the weapons. "How dangerous are these weapons?"
"Extremely," Maria said. "It should be like getting hit with a greatarrow, and can kill most people who aren't a knight in armor."
Rafael blinked at that. "Ah. So, as dangerous as one of Larna's magic tools if I don't know what it does."
"That would not be an incorrect assumption," Maria said.
"And they don't run on magic?" Rafael said.
"Not unless you count basic alchemy," Maria said.
"Sounds incredibly dangerous," Rafael said. "I don't suppose you have a stick or something for me to carry?"
"Why would you need one?" Maria asked.
"Well, if I'm going to be watching your back, I'll need a weapon to protect it with," Rafael said.
"There's a sword and crossbow in the carriage," Maria said. "Between those and Larna's magic you three should be able to protect yourselves and get my mother out."
"My memory is a bit fuzzy, but I don't remember things turning out very well for me last time I held a sword," Rafael said.
"Don't worry," Maria said, smiling to herself. "This time you're not facing me."
They arrived at the lakeside town of Hinderstap at midday, at which point it stopped raining, leaving a gloomy, gray overcast sky that brought one to mind of the myths of the primordial world before the coming of disparity. After day of annoyingly constant daily rain, the lack of it seemed ominous.
Despite the gloomy weather, many people were out and about, going on errands or doing their shopping. Children played in the puddles left by the rain and pointed at Maria's carriage with loud cries.
The inn was a pleasant place with warm fires, bright paint on the walls, and just finishing up with the lunch rush, which means they still had food and the tables weren't so crowded. Larna Smith moved to separate from the group, then paused, then leaned over to whisper something to Rafael. After a brief whispered exchange, she nodded and went to the bar to get a drink with what seemed like a few journeymen lingering on their meals.
"What was that about?" Maria asked as they finished ordering.
"She's going to ask about local conditions," Rafael said, his eyes not leaving Larna in a way that made Maria feel vaguely envious. "Find out the local rumors, whether there's any wildlife we have to worry about… I told her not to leave my sight."
Maria nodded at his words, and turned towards Miss Shelley. "We should use the magic tool again," Maria said. "This close, we would have a better heading towards mother's location."
Miss Shelley nodded in agreement. "Soon… we'll find her soon…" she said, as if to herself.
"We will," Maria agreed.
Lunch was reasonably warm, reasonably delicious, and went down slowly. Maria could only speak for herself, but her emotions were in turmoil. Anticipation, anger, worry, anger, lust, anger, lust and desperation whirled inside her, seemingly so close to their goal, and it was an effort to eat.
Eventually, Larna Smith returned. "This is definitely the right place," she said. "The locals are worried. They've been seeing ogres around, and they say those usually live in the swamp on the other side of the lake, near a large sinkhole. Do you think the Dark Magic wielder might be controlling them?"
"Possibly," Maria said, getting ready to force down another bite. "I've personally never tried it, but it certainly seems plausible."
"Well, hex it," Larna Smith said. "Fighting ogres will be tough. We'll have to find a way around them."
"Leave them to me," Maria said. "Anything else?"
"That seems to be it," Larna Smith said. "There hasn't been any reports of thefts or strangers in town besides us, but with Dark Magic that doesn't mean much."
"Has anyone been buying more food than usual?" Miss Shelley asked. "Sufficient for three people, perhaps?"
Larna Smith frowned. "The caretaker of a noble's summer cabin has been coming down more. Ostensibly for supplies when his masters come. Apparently someone built their own vacation lodge on the ruins of the Dieke cabin."
"They're coming down in this weather?" Rafael said. "That's definitely Dark Magic at work, unless he's been selling provisions on the side and is making up for it now."
"According to them the caretaker is a trusted servant of the noble in question and assigned here as a sort of working retirement," Larna Smith said. "He likes going fishing and helps with crab trapping."
"We should start there," Maria said, finally finishing her food. It had tasted like ashes and gone down like a rock. It was a pity. The food has seemed very nice. "After we have used the magic tool to get a bearing."
She paused, hearing what she just said, then sighed. Then she gave Larna Smith a flat look. "Is that why the magic tool is shaped the way it is? All for the sake of a pun on 'bearing' and 'bear'."
Larna Smith blinked, then laughed. "Hah! I never thought of that! Wish I had, thought, that's hilarious!"
Maria sighed, before turning to face the dark outline of the nearby mountain. In the overcast, they were gray rather than blue, and she could just vaguely make out what seemed to be a wooden cabin on a stone foundation.
It was consumed in darkness, rising like a pillar of black flame.
I'm here mother. I'm close, Maria thought. I'm here to save you…
But first, use the magic tool to ensure she was actually there, and not a different place full of terrible Dark Magic.