Chapter 21: A Terrible Headache.

As we sit in the woods, catching our breath from the fight, I try to keep a lookout as much as I can. But I can't help looking up, trying to discern what is keeping the light from getting to us. While the trees are dead around us the light seems to be muted more than it should. While we know the forest itself is dying around us, according to Melfina the ground is consecrated. Something should be helping out the forest, but everything about the atmosphere is oppressive and dingy. Whatever divine information the cleric had received there were some blanks yet to fill.
I voice my concerns to the others about the soldiers we had passed and ask them if we want to go back. While we have made good progress into the forest, the safety of the towns should take precedence. Fixing the problems of the Ravens Wood will have to wait. Melfina is all for curing them, but with the way she says that it seems she is fully prepared to kill them to ease them of the disease if need be. Heating the whole project just to provide a single hammer blow.
Biting her thumb to make it bleed, Melfina smears the blood from under her nose over her lips. Casting a spell, she speaks into the air informing... someone.. that the incoming patrol soldiers needs to be quarantined. Telling whoever she was talking to that we were on our way back. Then she simply stopped talking. Not sure if anything else was supposed to happen, I looked at the others, and got various shrugs. Still not sure of Melfina's mannerisms, I ask the others if we should take samples. Nearly jumping forward to do so, Melfina crouches down to examine the body of the freshly redead Humanoid. Pustules cover the body, which looks, extremely... Wet. It looks like if we tried to burn it the whole forest would burn down before this thing did. Aurane steps forward to examine as well, and while I am sure neither of them are talking with each other, mutterings come out from the both of them. Not even turning around, Melfina spoke out loud that it seemed to be a spore based disease. As far as I know, that means I probably breathed it in when the enemy hit us with that spewed attack. Trying to think of what may be good enough to cover my large mouth. Finding a spare shirt in my pack, I wrap it around my head as best as I can. Now with a face covering, I feel like a plains nomad. As long as it keeps me safe and healthy, but I will need something better. Since we are going back to Lake town, maybe I can find something there.
Taking her knife, Melfina cuts deeply into the body around one of the Pustules. The surface of the body wobbled slightly as the blade moved. Seeing the grotesque deed being done, I turn to see what the others are doing. Aurane has brought his kerchief up, making him look like some sort of Highwayman, ready to build a coach stop before he would rob it. Rorin has a mask that seems to have raised up out of the very cowl he wears. It doesn't stick out like mine does, any random piece of cloth I could find, his just looks like it should have always been there. Marda has taken one of her shirts, like I have, but hers is a dress shirt that seems to have been in the bottom of her pack. The rank insignia not showing, but I can still see the shirt is from her dress service uniform. An odd choice, I'm not sure if it is being used out of spite or simply the first thing that wasn't needed.
Melfina has finished her task, wrapping the pustule ridden flesh in spare tent canvas. She too now wears a mask, a leather fitted mask that no doubt summons a demon or some other horrific device.
A simple quilted pattern on the mask, and buckles to attach it. She must have needed one previously. With her sample gathered, she stands up, and only realizes too late that spike is not with her. Looking around she found him crawling towards the body. Lunging for the reptile, she was too late to stop him from biting into the undead body. Rather upset with the turtle, and knowing that it must have been poisoned by this action, she thrusts Spike at Aurane, then stalks off. With a befuddled expression, Aurane presumably restores the turtle to a healthy state.
We gather our mounts together, and try to figure out what to do next. We are going to travel back to town, but do we push ourselves through the night and get there exhausted, or stop during the night and hope the patrol isn't as sick as they could be. We all agree that time is of the essence, and we need to push ourselves and the mounts to get back to town as soon as possible. As we race back down the trail as fast as we can, figures track us. I look to the side in time to see a hulking figure, maybe a bear, before it slinks behind a tree. Most bears I have seen have fur though.
We push ourselves, and our mounts hard into the night. Rides like this remind me of the long marches in the army. Those days were pretty bad too, but I was a lot younger then. And we did that every day. I was used to it. Now, I can feel my body begging for a break. Back cramping up, legs and rear under sore. I give Marda the reins to stretch out my arms a couple times. I can tell Mittens is getting tired too, but a couple of the horses were starting to lag behind. Pausing for a small break, we practically fall off the mounts, trying to stretch muscles that refused to move. The two horses that were lagging behind are too winded to keep up with a rider. Briefly trying to figure out how to get 5 riders on two mounts, Aurane closes his eyes, and begins to pray. An intense look upon his face, it appears like he is trying to summon an entire city into existence. Thrusting his hands forward, a majestic horse wondrous and divine appears in front of him. Just as he relaxes his hands however, it turns into a ghostly form of the same horse. As he is still able to ride this mount, Rorin and Melfina double up, and I pray that Mittens can keep up.
With sheer determination and probably a god amount of luck we ride into town in the early hours, probably right before dawn. Deciding to divide and conquer, Aurane heads out to find the clerics who will be able to help heal. With Marda and Melfina, with spike in tow, heading to the Sanctum to find the patrol, Rorin and I head to the Temple of Kusco to rest the mounts, and make sure they are well kept. Wearily making our way to the temple, we secure a place for the animals to stay, and I ask after animals the patrol had. After telling the Keepers of Kusco of the blight, and the horrible danger it carries, they tell me that some of the animals have indeed been getting sick, along with farm animals outside of the city. Teams will be sent out to make sure the blight isn't spreading. As Rorin and I stumble our way out of the temple, a town crier can be heard. As the sun comes up in Lake town, the residents will hear that face coverings should be worn, and anyone feeling ill is required to report to a temple.
As we wait in front of the temple, numb to the passing people, Aurane comes over in a rush, multiple clerics in tow. Vestments of Pudge, Terrance, and Bazil's temple cover these clerics who are either morning people, or amazing at getting to the task at hand. Together we all go over to the Sanctum outpost, and find a temporary sick house out front. I can hear Melfina inside, simply giving orders and expecting them to be followed. As the other clerics move inside, I find myself not knowing what to do. Not wanting to leave, and knowing full well that Melfina is going to Heal them one way or another, I decide to just post myself outside the tent, and try to stay awake while I wait.
Various chanting most of them all jumbling together come from inside the sick house. Eyes drooping, I notice that Mayor Sharon Morston and the captain of the guard have shown up. Along with Marda. I forgot to look for her, and apparently she had gone off to inform the mayor of what was going on. I”m glad someone was thinking clearly about that as well. I hear them discussing the need to keep this blight contained, and to send people out to the neighboring farms and towns to make sure this has not spread.
Practically falling asleep on my feet, I turn at the sound of people leaving the tent to find it is the patrol coming out, along with the clerics. The Holy folk look a bit more tired then when they entered, but also to be in rather good spirits. Melfina tells us that it was very close for some, but we managed to get here just in time to save everyone. Now that this emergency has been taken care of, we can all go get some rest. Heading back to the Three Rivers Inn, we get a couple rooms for the group. Breakfast is still laying out, and while not the grand buffet we had after the festival, there are still a few bits of pastries and savory pie. Grabbing morsels to take up with us, almost too tired to eat, we head upstairs to be finally allowed to pass out.
I wake up to darkness. Hunger gnaws at my belly. I can see in this darkness, but there isn't much to see. The other guys in the room with me are still asleep, and snoring. I'm honestly not sure how the room wasn't shaken apart with all of the vibrations we must have caused. I sneak my way down, and secure myself some bread and butter, then head back up to sleep. With the sleep comes the dreams.
Battles with giants and skirmishes with gnolls fill my night. As the unit armorer I wasn't put on the front lines unless it was absolutely needed, but that doesn't mean I didn't fight. The Giant hunts, the ambushes, both survived and set, the times where I had to repair not only armor but my fellow scouts. Death was present as well. Death of my comrades, of innocents and of monsters. There was no way to stop it, just the buffeting emotions that came with the thoughts. The visions passed by me in an incoherent tide, but not in any way that would sweep me away this time. When I woke it was not in a cold sweat, or a panicked rush of breath, but with a feeling of accomplishment. Like a step closer to finishing a project. Starting a heat treatment before the quench. Getting a project to that state can take a long time, and we had just slept for the better part of twenty or so hours.
When we did get up, we were rested, and not nearly as sore as I thought we would be. It took a bit of stretching, but I knew I was awake enough to get going again. Preparing ourselves for the day, we all decided some errands were necessary, and we agreed to all meet up at the edge of town in an hour. I had time to find a better mask than the shirt I was using. The problem was not many things could easily be fashioned with my long snout in mind. A mask that would cover anything from a human to an orc wouldn't work for one with such a regal face as myself. In the end I was forced to use the only thing I could find to fit over my mouth. So when everyone got together, Aurane with a sample chest, and Melfina with more vials, I hard a common feed bag over my mouth. I had even been offered some feed to go with it.
Aurane has also shown up with a really lousy looking cart, and two very pale looking horses to pull it. Honestly, I almost want to walk to keep these poor beasts from having to pull such a raggedy looking cart. Even if they aren't real. We manage to get ourselves going, and we make steady progress down the road, heading back into the heart of the woods.
It takes the whole day, but we get back to the site of the original campsite outside the forest. Feet aching, back tired from carrying a pack, and my nose overly hot from wearing the feed bag, I”m more than ready to stop for the day. After setting up the tent, we decide on watches, and I crawl into bed to wait my turn on third watch with Melfina. I take the feed bag off inside the tent. The canvas material had almost caught fire a couple times. That may have been my fault.
When I awoke for my turn at watch, Aurane tells us that eyes have been seen in the woods watching us. So far just watching us, nothing more. Melfina and I decide to take turns walking around the fire and the tent, while the other stayed by the tent to wake the others if need be. While I took my turn I looked out into the woods to see what was out there. Not 40 feet into the woods was a great big owlbear. Or what was left of it, Feathers and Fur sloughed off the beast, exposing the skull and the ribs in places. One of the claws ended in only bone. Ripping my eyes from that horrible vision, I spotted the second watcher. A weretiger stands in plain view, moss and fungus mat it's fur. I can't tell if it is growing from the body, or just on it. Like the owlbear, it doesn't move, it just stands there, swaying from one foot to another as if waiting for us to do something. Trying to keep a good patrol, I look for more bodies out in the darkness. One final set, unblinkingly staring at us, is far enough back I can't discern what it is connected to, other than maybe branches or horns coming out the top of the head.
Nearly at the end of our watch, an arrow comes out of the darkness, Melfina barely getting out of the way. A note is wrapped around the shaft of the arrow with one word across the top. LEAVE. The rest of the note has writing that neither of us can read, so we wait for the others to get up. When Aurane does finally get up, he is able, with the aid of a spell, to read the rest of the scrawled note.
“You are all parasites leaching off the land. It is now time for the earth to take back what is it's own. You will perish, or we will use you as part of our army.”
I remember back to when Melfina said that the ground here was hallowed, and it felt like something was fighting for the forest. I have a sudden feeling that is was kinda the other way around. Something caused this, and the forest was trying, and failing to fight back. Looking to the others, Melfina stands and asks,”Well? Should we press on?”