Chapter 36 Curiosity

The trees whizzed past the window of my cabin. Sitting with my left arm around my unhatched child I sat enjoying some time alone. Or trying to. The whole train was rocking gently on the tracks, and while it wasn't unpleasant like an airship, it was still something hard to ignore. I was doing my best to do just that while I told stories to the egg. Max had been urging me to do that for some time now, so figuring on the long trip ahead of us I should take some time for just that. I lay in my breeches with my right arm off. I felt a little exposed, but the guards were on edge now.
There had been quite a bit of explaining to do about the bodies and blood that had remained on the train. During the morning coffee rain from a storm had caused the blood on top of the train to seep down the windows. It had caused a bit of a consternation from the other passengers, and had to be explained away by the train staff. There was also a missing shield guardian, which must be what those fancy bits of armor are. I have no idea what happened to it, and it seemed to trouble the guards that anything at all Could have happened to it. I had wanted to try to get the guards on our side, and work with them, but the rest of the group had been against it. Wanting to share the credit with the guards, I figured that would get us on their good side, the others simply didn't want to get chummy with them, so if they screwed something up we wouldn't be a part of it.
Yun and I had stayed up and broke the cipher, decoding the message. I had thought it was going to be a message to someone on the train. It read:
He's on the train heading to the meeting
We need him Alive to assist with business
This is a test for defenses and to see if they are on board.
If you can lift the key and schematics, do so.

That had of course solved the question as to what they had wanted. That team had been after someone on the train, probably Henry. If they had wanted to test out the defenses, I guess we gave them an answer. As to what the key was, none of us currently knew. While it hadn't taken a long time to figure out the message, it had caused us to be up later than usual, leading to a rather lethargic morning. After breakfast and the eventful coffee time, I found myself back in my cabin. Marda had wanted to go visit Mittens so I had lent her my all access pass to do so. Which allowed me to stare out the window and day dream. The last time I had been through these woods we had chased down a murderer, and encountered the hydra. That disaster was behind me now, and my shoulder tingled where they used the diamond on me. Then on the next trip we had all nearly been infected and turned by an undead plague. Now I have brought all of my loved ones with me, and left my beloved shop practically abandoned. What-
The door to my cabin opened and Melfina walked in, and closed it behind her. Saying only “ I need to cast a spell”, she sat down looking directly at the door and closed her eyes. She held the dagger that Max had made for her, closed her eyes and quietly prayed. With the completion of the prayer, she sat unmoving. Well, now that I have two things to protect in here, and myself I suppose, I summoned my axe. Leaning it up against the couch-bed, I went back to looking out the window, thoughts traveling as fast as the trees outside once more.
Some time had passed, and I may have dozed off more than once, before Melfina moved again. With a involuntary groan, Melfina stretched from the sitting position she has been in, and tells me she has figured a few things out about Henry. The meeting he is supposed to be having will be at tea time, although we don't know where yet. I suppose we could just follow him if it comes to that. Saying that she saw a book, she wants to try writing the title down, maybe one of us can read it. Before she can get up, Marda knocks on my door and enters followed by Yun and Geno. While closing the door Marda quietly tells us that someone got into the livestock cart from outside, and Mittens had managed to get a swipe in. piping up, Yun fills us in with a conversation he had with one of the medics one the train. Someone had taken some bandages and ointment from the cart while no one was looking. So, there may be another team, or individual at least, who wasn't supposed to be on the train. How did anyone get on while the train was moving in the first place, and how would they get off? Questions to think about. Melfina has finished her book title, saying it was the book that Henry was reading avidly. After we all take a look, Yun tells us it is elvish, but something is off. Nothing but gibberish. The script meant nothing to me at first glance, but a meaning came to me, as if I could always read this. Translated to common, I read out to the others, “Talls of Fairbong Truvel: the each for the fall smity” While it may have been fun to try to make guess of the actual title, none of us knew what it could have been.
While we all had been trying to read the book title, Marda had brought her haversack into her lap. Smiling, she started pulling straw out of the pack. At first the straw had looked to be covered in muck, and indeed some of it was, but it also had blood on it. With a wickedly gleeful look in her eyes, she started crudely collecting the blood from the straw, as if trying to milk it. Holding up a hand, Geno told her to wait, and if she could be patient, he could go get some alchemy tools. Where he was going to get them on the train, I had no idea, but he told us he would have them in an hour.
With time to kill, Melfina tells us she wants to cast something else, and pulls out a massive amount of incense from her pouches. Thinking she was simply going to pick the proper amount to use, she instead lit nearly all of it. The cabin quickly filled with the stench, and I was forced to open the window as much as I could. Now with the loud noise coming so easily through, it was harder to hear Melfina as she started to mutter about what she was seeing.
“The Tales of Fairlong's Travels:The search for the fallen city. Elvish. Shadowfell. Dragons. A green key.” She had said a few other things, but I couldn't make them out. She started bleeding from the eyes and nose before coming out of the trance. “I saw the book.” she starts. “ Henry must be looking for the ancient city, but it may have fallen into the realm of Shadowfell. There were odd creatures, maybe fae, but I couldn't tell. And there was something about green dragons. That group must be after the Key, which is attached to the book, but I don't know why.” Geno had come back by the time Melfina had finished her trance, and he filled us in about the dragons. If a green dragon spent enough time in one place, the Faewild could sometimes leak into this plane, influencing the area. I wonder if Max would know anything about the Faewild, considering who his dad is. Telling the others I will be right back, I leave the Egg in Marda's care. She watches over Melfina to some extent, I would rather keep it surrounded by allies than carry it everywhere.
Opening the door to my compartment, I come face to face with Henry. Realizing that I was just in my breeches, I balk and try to figure out the best course of action. Awkwardly saying nothing, I jump into the hall and practically trot down to Max and Leona's cabin. I turns out, they too were coming out to head for lunch. Completely forgetting about the meal schedule, I find that Yun, Geno and I have missed our scheduled lunch time, and it was now time for Max, Leona, Melfina and Marda to eat. Apparently, Henry was also scheduled to eat at this time, and Melfina and Marda run to try to sit with him. After they had all left the train car, which was now practically empty, I go back to my own cabin. Geno and Yun were talking with their heads together, poking heads out the door. With a simple, “Right, let's do it” from Geno, I watch as they quickly cast something, and both disappear.
Sitting with the Egg once again in my arm, I watch as my door once again opens, and stays that way. After a short moment, I hear a click, and the opening of a door across the hall, but I don't see it move. Odd. I think they may have gone to break into Henry's room, and I know the goblin at least can be invisible, like he was when we first met him. They could have at least closed My door. It's letting in a breeze, and since the window is still open, there is a good draft. Getting up to close it, I come face to face with one of the car guards. “Just wanted some fresh air in here. It can be a bit stuffy.” With a grunted response, the guard goes back to his post at the back of the car. Well. I guess I will leave everything open now. I had wanted to get dressed anyway, since I made a fool of my self in front of the guy we are not supposed to be noticed by. Decent folk don't go around in sleeping attire.
Grabbing a vest, I put it on, but I don't slot the protective plates in the layers of fabric. Easy enough to do if I need be, they can be uncomfortable if I wanted to keep laying next to the Egg. Seeing Leona in the hall had led to another thought. She seemed to be doing well enough after her first kill, but I would have to ask Max about it. He would know if there had been any problems. I hope she hadn't had enough time to focus on it, but doing something like killing another being, even in self defense could really change someone. She had seen the problems Max and I both had, and I didn't want her to have to live with them herself.
I don't know how long I sat there thinking about it, but I head another click, like a lock of a door, and I felt someone enter the room. I can hear the Goblin trip on something, maybe his own feet. I wonder if that is something and invisible person would be prone to. I wonder if I will ever be able to figure that out. Do I really Want to find that out?
The time to figure that out would come later, and I hear people outside in the hall. A slight giggle emanates from my left, and is stifled right before Marda opens the door, and comes in, Melfina and Leona behind her.
“It's my turn” my daughter says. I arch my brow questioningly, but smile and hand over the Egg.
“Thank you” I reply, and when she grabs the Egg she places a half of a cold roast beef sandwich in my hands. I give her a grateful hug, and she heads back to her cabin. Scarfing the sandwich in two bites, I savor it. While I could have heated it, that wasn't needed. Or safe probably.
With the cabin door shut, Yun and Geno come out of hiding, right in Marda's face with a loud “Hi!” attempting a quick slap, Marda's hand whiffs through the air directly in front of Yun's face. A grin on their face, Yun starts filling us in as to what was found in Henry's cabin. While the book hadn't been out on the table anymore, they had found it in a chest and Yun had been able to read it. The key had been attached to the book by a ribbon, acting as a bookmark. A special magnifying glass had been enclosed in a fountain pen, allowing the user to see special ink, which had been liberally used in the margins of the book. As it turned out, Henry had been writing down daydreams of meeting and befriending these Fae creatures the book would describe. Notes and Hypotheses in the book guessed at Oberon, the King of the Fae, being trapped in the city when some event had sent it into the Shadowfell. A War between the Fae courts had led to imbalance and disaster, trapping everyone involved. The Key itself had caused Geno's Skin to tingle, sparking memories from Marrda of the strange Rock we Had found in Mr. Corbin's Haversack. As He had taken that rock back, we could only guess they were the same material.
Another note had sparked interest of another sort. While Henry had wanted to befriend the Fae creatures, and be some sort of adventurer, he also didn't seem to have quiet the nerve for it yet. The main problem was that he knew the type of people he was heading to meet, and he clearly didn't want to have anything to do with them. They must have something he wants of course, so maybe that is an angle we can cover.
Standing, Yun opens their mouth. “Well,” they say, “Only one thing to do really. Geno, would you get us some Tea please? A few varieties.”
Nodding, Geno leaves the cabin, with Yun right behind. But instead of heading down the train, Yun simply knocks on the door across the hall. As it cracks open I see the furry face of Henry peering cautiously out.
“Would you like to join us for some tea?” Yun asks in a perfectly chipper tone.
I don't think any of us expected that, and I know I blinked a couple times in confusion. Melfina looked up from the blood she had been examining, some of the fluid still caked on her like war paint. No reason to wipe it off while eating, it had stayed on there.
“Are you here to kill me?” Henry asks? While a strong voice, I could tell he was trying his best to keep from fainting.
It was Yun's turn to blink, and the answer of “No way, shape or form” came from the musician.
“Oh.” It came from the Tabaxi in an odd tone, slow, matter-of-factly. “Well, I have this perfect evening robe I would love to get in, would that be ok?”
“It sure would” Yun replied cheerfully. “It will just be over in my friend's cabin here across the way.”
“OK, I will be right over,” Henry promised, and closed the door, presumably to get ready.
Coming back across the narrow Hall, Yun gestured at Melfina's face, and the caked on blood peels up and away, dissolving into nothing. “We need to get ready, we are going to have a tea party I our pajamas.” Changing into evening wear before our eyes, they shoo their hands at the rest of us, as if to get us ready faster. The Ladies leave to get ready, and I look down at myself. I just got dressed less than an hour ago. It feels kinda silly. Starting to undo my vest, Geno comes back, letting us know that Tea has been ordered. Upon hearing the information that we are having a tea party in our sleeping attire, he exclaims “Jim Jam Slam!” and rips his shirt off. Great. Now we all have to be in our nightwear, in a small cabin. This isn't going to be awkward.