Chapter 28: A feeling of lethargy.

 
 
We finish getting back to Aurane's shop through the underground system, with Max's help. I am exhausted, both emotionally from all the changes in mood, and also physically from all the adrenaline spikes. I am also embarrassed after leading our distinguished guest through the sewer. The man is an Arch Fey for Daja's sake. I should not have even thought of bringing him through something so foul as this. I'm not really certain what he is fully capable of, but thinking of the causal use of magic he had when lighting up my shop is putting other questions into my head. Was my work after the army the right thing to do, or was it more harmful to the world? After all, I would probably be one of those being hunted now. I'll deal with it later, once everyone is safe.
Climbing up through the trap door, we find that Melfina and Marda are already back. Not wasting any time, Melfina tells us that the body is still secure inside an anti-magic room, and that the sanctum has given them a roll of paper so we can communicate with the Marquis. Just tear off a small piece, write something on it, and they will be able to read it. We have also been told we can trust Harold Ravenswood, the leader of the infrastructure guild, but being told we can trust him, and actually knowing we can is different. We do know that the Temples of Daja, Lady Constance, and Dem Falic' have stood up for the Bard's guild, so it's at least somewhere to look for allies in the city. We can tackle all that later though.
Knowing that we don't really have enough room to house all the new arrivals comfortably, I go to dig out the old blanket from the bottom of my pack. I had mixed it in with my dirty laundry hoping to get in through any inspection, and apparently it had worked. Of course, Aurane's brilliant distraction had made it so they didn't even look, but planning is half the battle. Walking up to Max, I figure he may be tired, and instead address his Father.
“Sir, I am not really in the proper mindset to use this right now, and I think we could use the extra sleeping quarters.” I say. “I don't want to impose, but could you please do the honors? I have a feeling that you know how to use it.”
Before answering, he gives me a measured look. “Of course. It has been a while though.” Taking two corners of the blanket he flutters it up into the air as if to set up a picnic blanket. But as the blanket comes back down, it doesn't take the form of a tent like it does for me. Instead it takes the form of a tent one may see at a circus or menagerie. But I see it more of the tent a commander would use while surveying his troops in the field. As he goes in, we all grab our bags to settle in for the night. Leona hands Max a small bag of personal items. I know he still polishes his horns before bed every night. He doesn't want to admit it though.
The pillowy interior is much more refined than mine ever was. Instead of the mismatched mugs that kept the hot chocolate and the lounging pillows, finer furnishing are present. A grand foyer, complete with chandelier that we have to crawl under leads to a sitting area. Long padded pillow benches with tables next to them sit in a square. The tables in the corners have goblets holding a dark, rich looking chocolate. As we look at the rooms we find they contain scenes of tree forts and a waterfall of pillows. As we look through them the rooms are claimed. I find myself being the last one to take a room, and as we come to the last one, the room is not lit as the others have been. Instead a foggy darkness coats most of my room, with a strange ribbon of light, more of a glow than a light source, emanates around the ceiling. Without my new magical sight, I would not have been able to see in here without the aid of the lantern. When I ask about it, I am informed that it resembles the Shadowfell.
Leaving the room and it's gloom, I head back out to the main sitting area, and find myself a goblet of Chocolate. The others had started to gather and silently berating myself for not doing it sooner, I properly introduce Marda and Melfina To Max's father. Marda asks if he wants the bag back, and after a brief discussion of the contents, he tells her to keep it. Only wanting his old notes and various other gems, he says he has a new bag. With discussion moving on to the shard, I try to pay attention to as much as possible. With the influence of the rich chocolate, and other troubling thoughts I struggle. The last host of the shard was a Dragon he fought in the shadowfell, and a good pair of tongs will help you grab something while not touching it. Marda dashes out of the shelter, and comes back with Aurane's salad tongs which he has probably never used for salad.
“I could make better tongs than that.” I hadn't realized I said it out loud until everyone was looking at me. Glancing around for Max I say, “Maybe not a fancy pair, but we make specialty tongs for when we need them right? We could make a pair for this.” Of course, where do we make it?
As for containing the shard, Mr Corbin suggests that the sanctum should have something. Saying that the Sanctum contain all sorts of magical things all the time, there should be something there. If not, a stout lead box will do the trick. We could carry the shard in a pouch, but that would probably attract all sorts of bad things to ourselves, not to mention the city. Plus, without sealing the shard away, the Ravenswood will never go back to normal. When it is sealed away, we will have to get druids and Nature followers to restore the natural order. If we fail, the forest could become a portal into the shadowfell itself, not something any of us really want to happen. The last time the planes collided, one of the moons exploded.
As they start talking about the history of the moon explosion, I beg my leave, and head to my room. I am back in my city, and I can't even stay in my own bed. The worst part is I don't even feel safe in my own city, and that I was ready to fight the city guard because of that. What happened to me that I have the same moral standings as those I dedicated part of my life fighting? I was ready to be a bandit or outlaw just because I lost my temper. Of course, another part of my life I went after those who can Cast, and now look at me. Even a couple of months ago I chased after a murderer who could magically teleport. Someone I Died to try to bring to justice. And I was about to become that same person. Just another Caster who wanted to fight the law. I run my fingers over the brand I now carry, part of the cost of my life. The lines in my scales run up to my chest, to the stub on the end of my right shoulder. I have spent so long trying to ignore these thoughts, trying to just keep going. I wanted to just get back to the city, stay with my the ones I care about, finish up the horrible problem with the Ravenswood, and create. Now I'm just not sure how practical that will be. With the frustration of not knowing what to do, and the feeling that I can't do much of anything, it takes some time before my mental exhaustion pulls me into a dreamless sleep.
When I awoke, after a brief time considering going back to sleep, I went out to the Aurane's living area to find that Rorin had come with a basket of fruit. Everyone at his estate are doing well enough, but for a lack of supplies. Still groggy, I pick through the fruits and food laid out on the table by Kel, and nibble my way through breakfast. Some of the group looks as if they tried to stay up for the entire night, and I can see Marda and Melfina talking in the corner. Not wanting to eavesdrop, I stick to my own business, and finish eating. We all eventually gather together, and decide what we want to do today.
Aurane and Rorin need to go back to the Ashforge estate. Aurane has plans to Bring Elon back from the dead, thinking that having a prominent ally back would help us tilt the scale in favor for our side. Marda and Melfina want to head over to the Temple of Kusco and get both Spike and Sora, who have been stuck in a barrel for the last day. Then they want to head back to the sanctum and see if they can remove the crystal. While I definitely want to help with these tasks, I worry about being able to control myself. I nearly lost it yesterday, for no reason. Well, I suppose there was a reason, but I still should have been better behaved. Looking for another reason to stay behind, my eyes fall on Leona, who looks utterly exhausted. Dani looks the same, and I know both have been through a lot of things. Even With Max and his father here, I don't want to leave them here alone, and I tell the group that.
With everything decided, the rest of the group gathers up equipment and gear, and heads out. I clean up from breakfast, and try to keep myself occupied talking to everyone. Both Leona and Dani want to know what happened to us while we were gone. While I don't want to overly stress them I ask if we should really be talking about that, and when they get annoyed by me fussing over them, I tell them what I can remember. I leave out the magical abilities I have acquired, leaving those parts vague, but everyone seems to enjoy the tale. Dani especially soaks it up, but once I get to the arrival at the harbor, I trail off. With an awkward silence starting to fill the void, I again ask if they are doing OK. With an exasperated huff, they both insist they are, and instead of facing their wrath, I decide to leave them be and go over to see what Max and his Father are doing at the the table. A small hand crafted chess set sits between them, and they are setting it back up after a previous match. Thinking the best way to stay out of trouble is to not say anything at all for the rest of the day, I resolve myself to trying that for a while.
A knock at the front door of the shop sometime later brings us all out of our stupor. A slight look of alarm travels through the room, and weapons are brought to hand. Kel goes to answer the door, as she at least belongs here, and when she opens it Melfina walks in carrying the old carpet we recovered.. Marda follows right behind with the empty cask we used to conceal the animals. Setting down the cask, I can hear a light thumping sound coming from within. Once opened, I see that spike had been ramming the lid of the cask, clearly not happy with his situation. Sora, annoyed by his diminutive companion, and perturbed from being stuck inside a cask for a whole day immediately flew out. Taking a few laps around the ceiling, Sora finally landed on top of a book case, and leered over the edge of it, just the eyes and crest poking over.
Spike on the other hand had immediately started to eat Melfina's boot. Picking up the turtle, she took it over to the table. Setting it down, she pulled some fruit out of the basket in an attempt to placate the creature. Taking some time to play with the smaller companions, the two soon depart to head to the sanctum, leaving Spike and Sora with me.
Once Marda and Melfina leave, I try get Spike and Sora to play with Dani and Leona, but apparently none of the parties really want that. Sora doesn't seem to be in the mood to play with someone they don't know, and neither does spike, attempting more to bite people than look for attention. That's fine. Gives me more to do.
After several hours more of trying to keep spirits up, I don't feel that I have been very successful. Receiving scathing looks, from the humanoids, and loosing scales to small claws and bites, everyone just seems to be doing as well as they can. Max has been through a lot, with the state of the city and his Father being here. Dani of course has been through more than any of us want to think about, and since no one will tell me what they did during the rescue, I can only Imagine what Leona has had to deal with. Out of all of them, Kel is probably doing the best. If she is anything like Aurane, she would have enjoyed the architecture of the underground systems while mapping them. Spike is hiding under the bookcase, and Sora is curled up on Mr Corbin's lap when Melfina and Marda come back to the shop.
Both are in bad shape, and while not actively bleeding, look to be rather miserable. As we patch them back up, they tell us when they pulled the shard out of the body it came back to life and tried to kill them, nearly doing so. With a quick but fearsome battle, they manage to deal enough damage to finally end it once and for all, Melfina imbuing her weapons with radiant power itself, and Marda decapitating it to end the fight. Leaving the body in the chamber, and storing the crystal in a magical box, they also left that with the Sanctum. Being in the business of stashing magical items, it should be safe there.
Waiting for Rorin and Aurane to come back, the sky grows dark long before they get back. When they do, both seem to be weary, but in good spirits. Aurane was successful in bringing Elon Tusk back from the beyond, and they went to the extent of telling the city officials. That is why it took them so long, is the fact that they had to go find the sheriff first, then High priestess Temperance, then wait for all the other temple leaders to come to them. The fact that he was brought back was taken well by most of the people there, although General Priestess Stoneskin seemed bothered that she had to show up.
When Aurane had to tell everyone that Elon needed to rest, yet another discussion had broken out, with everyone trying claim they could protect him better. When it was pointed out that his body had been very secure at the Ashforge estate, the temple heads from Daja, Dem Falic' and Lady Constance all agreed he should stay there. After leaving Elon in the care of Rorin's staff, Aurane and Rorin came back here to reunite.
With the crystal secured, we talk about what we should do now that the forest should be able to heal. Agreeing that the temple folk of Laketown should be able to at least start the healing process of the forest, they should also be able to take care of the undead that have appeared. With the decision for Melfina to send a message to Lenny, we decide to check in after we take care of things here in the City.
With the blanket set up again for us all to use, and everyone back safely after today, we all turn to rest for the night, but Melfina pulls me aside. I remember now that she was looking a bit troubled earlier when she was talking with Marda. Considering she had any expression at all, I should have said something then, but if she wants to talk now, I'll see if I can help.
“I talked with Charles at length last night, and he helped me regain some of my memories. But these are memories of brutal pasts, and troubling thoughts.” She would normally talk as if telling us that day becomes night. But this time she was more serious. It was a little unnerving. “I am not sure how to deal with these at this current time. It appears I have been alive much longer than I thought.”
I could tell she wanted to say more, but couldn't bring herself to do so. I didn't want her to be uncomfortable, but she had also struck something in me. I had been avoiding nearly the same problem of a troubled past my whole day, doing everything I could to not deal with it. Scrambling to say something, I said the first thing that came to mind.
“I try to surround myself with friends and activities, and try to block it out. We have the group, and you have spike.” It was Lame, and unhelpful. I regretted saying it almost immediately, but since I hadn't found a solution to that problem I wanted to say something. I'm glad Max isn't here right now, he would not have been happy with me, and I didn't need yet another person unhappy with me.
With her normal expressions, I couldn't really tell if she found that advice particularly helpful, but I know it wasn't the most profound thing I had said. Awkwardly parting ways, I head to my room, build a small nest out of the bedding and pillows, and pray for another empty night.
Running. On the way to the broken tower we ran for our lives. We had to. When I ran out of arrows under the broken tower I ran. I could have saved more lives there, but I didn't. When I should have been watching those kids in that raid, I ran. I could have saved them. I ran when we fought the hydra under the mountain, and Rorin had gone down. All the times that I had run away flashed in sequence, over and over in front of me. I could have done better, should have been able to save those lives, kept loved ones from harm. And Suddenly the view changed. I was in the courtyard of Daja's temple. And I could feel a choice before me. I could keep running and find a new home, or I could stand here and fight for it. What would I choose?