Fan Fiction ❯ In the Service of the Red Lady ❯ Cold Front ( Chapter 1 )

In the Service of the Red Lady

By: bsmart

 

Disclaimer: Why the hell am I writing this? Nobody reads them and they have no legal weight. It's a complete waste of time and bandwidth and yet I'm still typing. I'm going to take a shot in the dark and rate this fic R, violence and language, the good stuff.

“…” Normal Speech

`…' Thought

 

Chapter One: Cold Front

 

The sharp twig dug deep into her foot but she ignored it, she had too, and it was only one of many injuries her battered feet had accrued this night. The cold rain pricked her where ever it hit, tiny freezing darts stabbing her flesh like a hundred little needles a minute, blinding her, sapping her strength and her will but she pushed on. The wind swirled around her, throwing leaves and debris at her face, at her arms, her legs. Another small branch whipped through the air and drew a thin crimson line across her cheek but she didn't slow down. The next step carried her over the bank of a stream and with a loud splash drowned out by the sound of the storm she fell into it on her hands and knees, a sharp rock sending fresh streams of pain up her arm from her palm, the water visibly turning red even in the darkness. The chill of it seemed to drag the strength from her body but she struggled onward, stumbling forward in the frigid water until it suddenly deepened and she found herself up to her waist in a half meter of sub-zero liquid, her shivers redoubled. The stream swirled and bubbled around her trying to draw her along with it, encouraging her, forcing her to give up but she resisted finally drawing herself out of the stream and onto its bank, her teeth chattering out a staccato beat. She could see the road up ahead.

 

It felt like she had been running all her life, that this terrible night was the sum of her existence, she tried to remember something before, something good, but nothing came, only blood and gore and screams. Death, death everywhere. She could see the road, just a few more meters.

 

Not too far in the distance something roared, something big, something not natural.

 

She tried to run, to get to the road as fast as she could but something caught her foot and drug her down. A panic shot through her, the hammering in her chest grew loud enough to hear and the blood surging through her veins drowned out all other sounds in its rush. She kicked her foot free of the root that had tripped her but when she tried to rise to her feet her legs gave out, the adrenaline was not longer enough to keep her exhausted muscles going. White-hot agony lanced through arms and legs as her body protested the abuse it was being subjected to but she ignored it and pushed on, she had to.

 

Scrambling forward, pulled by her hands she slid down a small incline into a shallow ditch beside the road. She tried to pull herself up and out, onto the road but her grip failed and she fell back down, only stopping where her hip smashed into one of the small rocks lining the bottom of the ditch. She tried again, and her grip held in the cold mud but her frozen muscles lacked the strength to pull her up and again she fell back, a sharp pain and a twisting foot only adding to her agony. She could feel her body starting to shut down, her vision dimming, her hearing failing. With one last titanic effort she drug herself to the lip of the ditch and her grip was firm, she pulled herself up onto the muddy road but when she tried to rise up her arms didn't respond. She tried again and only pushed her face farther into the muck.

 

Panting heavily she knew there was nothing more she could do, her body refused to go any further and they would be here any minute, just like everyone else she was going to die on this miserable night. As her vision closed in she could just make out the form of the largest horse she had ever seen slowly ambling down the road towards her, its thick coal colored coat clashing with the long gray fringe around its hooves. She blinked and the horse was much closer, she realized that the animal was twice her height at the shoulder; its mane was the same sooty color as the hair around its hooves. The great animal appeared to glide above the road, its massive hooves never touching the ground and the rain never touched its rider. The figure upon its back was hidden in a cloak the color of ash, lighter then its steed's mane but far too dark to be white. She closed her eyes and opened them to find one of the hooves stopped a few strides away, the mud mounding up around the great creature's foot. The slithering whisper of metal on leather and a resounding clank brought her attention back to the rider. With sure steps the figured moved towards her a thin strip of dried mud around the bottom of the cloak. Again the darkness surrounded her and again she fought back, she opened her eyes to see a steel boot before her, the dark cloak all around her but no rain pelting her, only small crystals of ice, she was cold, very cold and she knew what was coming.

 

The chill touch at her arm was unpleasant but not unexpected; at least she was going before they found her. She was only rolled over far enough to be able to look into the shadowed cowl of the cloak, but she could see enough to make her smile just before the darkness overcame her for the last time.

 

'Death has blue eyes.'

 

*****************

 

Consciousness slammed back into her like a charging bugbear, she snapped upright fully conscious in an instant. Swamped with unexpected stimuli her brain tried to make sense of it all, a fireplace, the bed she was in, the pale woman sitting in the corner, but it couldn't. Overcome with strangeness and her own body's weakness she collapsed back into the bed, the soft sheets swallowing her whole.

 

*****************

 

Tyyrlym's legs flexed as she dropped the half-meter from Sturmwind's stirrups to the muddy ground below. The great horse whinnied in annoyance as his mistress dismounted and he was again pelted with the freezing rain. The winter storms were coming up, in a few weeks the sleet would change to snow and more of the north would fall under the cold's frozen grip, Tyyrlym was looking forward to it.

 

"What do we have here," she said as she trod through the mud towards the small form laid out in the middle of the road. The little girl had pushed up a furrow of mud when she had fallen and judging by her wound's Tyyrlym doubted the child was still alive. "More's the pity."

 

She kneeled down to have a closer look at the girl but then her eyes flitted open for just a moment. Disregarding her training Tyyrlym grabbed the girl's arm and rolled her over. For a split second she was able to look in the wounded girl's purple eyes before she smiled and the rolled back into her head. "She's alive!" Tyyrlym closed her eyes and passed a hand over the girl's body and to her surprise found that the girl wasn't close to death despite how grievous her wounds looked. When she completed the impromptu exam she looked back at the girl's face and was shocked to find a pair of glowing red slashes extending from the girls forehead down across the bridge of her nose. Immediately Tyyrlym concentrated, pressing her hand against the girl's breast and focusing her energy as she had been taught, she could feel the spark of life in the girl flaring brighter, she wasn't going to die this night.

 

Darting back to her mount Tyyrlym quickly scrounged through her saddlebags until she found one of her rarely used blankets. She easily picked up the tiny girl and put her in the blanket before gathering up the ends of it and tying them behind her neck to make a makeshift sling with the wounded child cradled against her stomach. Moving as quickly as she dared Tyyrlym remounted her steed and put the spurs to him. "Come on Sturm, Arlyon is only a few miles away."

 

In a flash they were off, Sturmwind charging along at a breakneck pace while his rider paid more attention to her newfound charge then the road. The angry red slashes down the girl's face were fading from view but their image was burned into Tyyrlym's mind. They were identical to the set that were sometimes visible on her own face.

 

************

 

The portly innkeep sat another heavy ceramic mug back in its place on the shelf before returning his hands to the sink. Another few mugs, a plate or two and some silverware and he'd be able to head up to his apartment, his warm bed, and his wife; this was one miserable night he would not be sad to see over.

 

Just as he tossed one final knife into its appropriate drawer the thick wooden entrance door to the inn slammed open rattling the windows and everything not tightly nailed down.

 

"We're closed," the innkeep said gruffly before even turning to look at the door, when he did he saw pretty much what he expected too. 'Great, another self important adventurer.' The tall woman standing in the doorway ignored his declaration and took a step inside; her foot falls accompanied by a resounding thud through the floorboards. Even to someone who had spent every day of the last twenty years tending to the needs of bratty fame seekers the woman was imposing, she was two meters tall if she was a centimeter, most of her legs were hidden behind a thick ash colored cloak around her legs that was split down the back and open in front, a separate shawl of the same color was wrapped around her torso with its hood pulled over her head. The hilt of a sword peaked up over her right shoulder and when she stepped in just the right way he could see two more hilts ridding low on her right thigh. Strangely she seemed to be completely dry despite the driving rainstorm outside.

 

"We're closed," he tried to explain a little more softly but it didn't dissuade the woman, she continued right up to the counter. "We're..."

 

One of the woman's hands emerged from her cloak and slapped down on the bar. When her steel half-gloved hand was pulled away ten golden coins lay on top of the bar. Small puffs of breath emerged from the cowl of her hood and when the innkeep looked up from the money to see her face all he could see were two slivery blue eyes glowing faintly in the dark interior of the hood. "I need a room."

 

**********************

 

As he led the strange woman up the stairs the innkeep couldn't help but play with the gold pieces in his pocket, ten gold pieces were enough to rent the best room in his inn for a month and anyone who had enough money to sling that kind of coin around wasn't going to hesitate to spend a little more. They quickly climbed two flights of creaky but sturdy stairs and arrived at the top floor, the door to the woman's suite was right next to his own apartment, after all he wanted to be as far from the noisy lower floors as possible and as close to the big spenders as he could get. After all, the drunken rabble down below might be his bread and butter business but tending to the needs of the high rollers made his reputation, he had no desire to stay a simple innkeeper for the rest of his life.

 

The worn bronze key easily slid into the equally aged lock and the catch opened with a resounding clack. Once the innkeep palmed the latch the solid oak door swung open easily though it made a squeaking racket. 'I'll have to remember to oil that.'

 

Raising the lamp he'd brought with him he moved quickly to light the lamps in the room and started to deliver his well-rehearsed spiel. "There's a nice big bed with clean sheets, your own loo so you don't have to share with the rest of the inn, and you've got a sink and tub with your own pump so you can take yourself a bath if you want too. You'll have to heat up your own water though. If you need anything don't hesitate to come ask, my room is the last one on the left. If you want yer meals in yer room just tell me and when you're done leave the plate outside yer door. Oh, and if you need any laundry done just stuff it in a bag and set it by the door, my wife will get it in the morning and have it back to ya by the afternoon." He lit the last lamp and turned back to ask, "Would you like me to start the fire?" but his words drifted off as he watched the woman remove her shawl.

 

From the footfalls he had heard he'd expected her to be wearing some sort of armor and she was, an ornate suit of blue enameled and copper trimmed dark silver half plate covered most of her torso though in some strange concession to fashion the armor left a generous amount of cleavage exposed and the woman was filling that to overflowing. The suit itself had obviously had as much time spent in its design as someone had in decorating it as the woman moved easily without making a sound save her solid footfalls as she tossed her pack atop the shawl that was already on the bed and started to work on the brown sling around her neck. Despite all this the innkeep was barely aware of what she was doing, instead he was focused on the woman's skin, her pale skin was a uniform light icy blue and her lips and hair were a bright vibrant blue typically reserved for the finery of the richest nobles. Her every breath froze in front of her mouth, all the moisture in the air condensing into little snowflakes that melted back into the air before they made it to the bed where she was laying...

 

"Blessed Ilmater! Is she alive?" The girl who'd tumbled out of the sling was lying on the bed, still and limp. Ugly gashes and cuts adorned her body and clothes and one blistered burn ran down her arm until it reached her charred sleeve. At first he'd thought the girl a child but upon closer inspection her mature face and body gave her away as a halfling.

 

"Yes, and I mean to keep her that way. Do you have any bandages, dressings, medicine?"

 

"Ya..ya...yes I do but you must be..."

 

Tyyrlym tried to contain her impatience but some of it leeched into her voice. "Freezing? Don't worry about me, go and fetch what I require."

 

When he didn't move but kept looking back and forth between her and the halfling Tyyrlym leaned in and commanded, "Now."

 

The blast of frigid air that washed across his face spurred the portly man to action and he hustled out of the room.

 

Tyyrlym quickly released her half gauntlets from her armor and cast them aside, thankful that the girl was unconscious and wouldn't complain about the icy condition of her hands. A quick inspection showed that the small bit of energy that she had given the girl had done its job and kept her safe while she'd been moved here. The slashes and cuts on her body were still deep and still angry but they weren't bleeding as profusely as they had been and a little bit of new pink skin was starting to come in around the edges. For a moment Tyyrlym almost reached for a strong elixir, one or two of the rancid tasting vials and she knew the girl would be healed, tired and sore but she would be ready to go, but she stopped. To deny the girl her scars, especially if she had won them honestly was...repulsive, cowardly even, even more so given that she was in no immediate danger of dying. She could feel that the girl was strong, far stronger than any little halfling had any right to be; she had to be if she'd been chosen. Her direction decided she instead reached for one of the tightly wrapped bundles that she kept in her pack.

 

With a speed born of far too much experience with this sort of work Tyyrlym unpacked the little medical kit and set about her task. She removed the girl's ruined clothes with a hunting knife she kept tucked under her cuirass and tossed the dirty ruined rags towards the door. With a bit of water she fetched from the pump and a rag from the kit she quickly cleaned up the girls wounds taking special care to make sure that the deep gashes and tears were clean all the way to the bottom. Finding the deepest of her charge's wounds Tyyrlym pulled out a small pouch and began to smear the herbal paste it contained into them whispering small prayers of healing to speed the concoction's effects and occasionally muttering thanks that she'd spent the extra coin for a well-stocked kit. With the paste used up Tyyrlym cast the pouch aside and pulled out another. The clear goo it contained was rapidly but carefully smeared across the smaller wounds to seal them and prevent and infection and whatever was left she used to give the deeper wounds a quick coat to try to seal the paste in. A roll of dressings came out next and Tyyrlym cut it into smaller pieces, pressing them over the girl's wounds while she waited for the innkeep to return.

 

"Will this do?" the man asked as he stumbled into the room almost tripping on the halfling's discarded rags.

 

Tyyrlym quickly surveyed the man's offerings, snatching up the cleanest roll of dressing she saw and using them to bind the bandages. Selecting one of the vials out of the innkeeper's arms, she popped the stopper out of it and let a few drops fall on her tongue. A decade of temple training allowed her to confirm that the potion was not only safe but might actually do some good. Pulling a rough sealed cup out of what was left of the kit Tyyrlym tore off the wax and emptied the contents of the vial into it, swirling them for a moment. The crushed herbs and roots the cup contained normally required a little water before they could be swallowed but the potion would suffice and given it's weak benign nature she wasn't concerned about unforeseen side effects. As she lifted the weak girl up to a sitting position Tyyrlym asked the innkeeper, "Would you please start a fire, she's been out in the cold for quite some time."

 

The man moved to do as he was told as Tyyrlym let the now shivering girl back down onto the bed.

 

"Is there anything else I can do?" the innkeeper asked as Tyyrlym began to clean up the remains of the medicine kit.

 

"Just some food in the morning, make sure my horse gets some as well, and bring up my saddlebags but DO NOT open them."

 

The burly man nodded. "I'm not used to having this kind of excitement come pouring in my door this late at night, or having such people as yourselves show up." Arlyon wasn't a big city, but it wasn't a small one either and though it didn't sit on a trade route or the like the innkeeper was still used to seeing all manner of people come through his inn, dwarves, humans, the occasional elf or even half orc, he'd even had a couple of lizardmen spend the night once but this was the first time he'd had a blue girl come through.

 

"You don't see many halflings?"

 

"Maybe six in the last twenty years, it's funny really, they have a village maybe ten leagues from here, northwest off of the road to Mersham but they almost never leave it or let anyone in. They're good enough folk but unless you've got business with them they don't let ya in, and they rarely leave for more then a day."

 

"Who does business with them?"

 

"Merchants mostly, go up there and buy their crops, they only take gold though, don't barter at all."

 

"Has anyone been there recently?"

 

"Well this ain't exactly the growin' season lass and I don't much mind what the merchants do but I do know of a couple of gentlemen who take trips there on occasion and bring back some pretty baubles."

 

Tyyrlym glanced back over her shoulder at the girl slumbering away on the bed. "I'll give you a gold coin for everyone of those men you can bring here to see me tomorrow. Tell them I'll give them three gold each just to talk."

 

Visions of a new wardrobe for his wife and a pretty little ring for Niobe the next time he visited her danced in his head. "I'll see to it right after breakfast."

 

Tyyrlym closed the door and gave the lock a twist until the brass bolt slid home with a clank. She turned about sighed resignedly as she looked at the fire starting to flare up in the fireplace. She wanted to strip out of her armor and throw the windows to the room open, rain be damned she wanted to feel comfortable in the room. Unfortunately comfortable for her would be bad for the girl, and she consigned herself to an overstuffed armchair by the window, far enough away from the fire to get some semblance of comfort from the chill leeching through the glass panes.

 

Tyyrlym worked the shoulder harness the held Ceilbrik to her back off her shoulders and she laid her sword on the wooden bench in front of the window within easy reach of the chair. The heavy leather strap and steel buckle that held her skirt-like cloak on was easily removed and the thick garment was quickly discarded. A few easily reached latches and buckles allowed her to slide off her pauldrons and cuirass and with them off she was able to work the straps holding up her bicep guards and vambraces. She tossed them all on the window seat with her cloak and sword. With her torso free of most of the armor she was able to remove her thigh plates and then her greaves, and finally her boots joined the growing pile of armor in front of the frosted window. The underlying leather backed black mail that completed her armor came off and for the first time in almost a tenday Tyyrlym enjoyed the feeling of being free of her metal carapace. As masterfully made and fitted as the armor was the metal cocoon was still something she disliked being trapped in for long periods of time but the journey north was long and secure places to bed down for the night were rare.

 

Behind her Tyyrlym heard the sheets rustle, in a flash she was standing beside the girl, peering closely at her. Where as before the girl's face had been blank, an exhausted wreck taking solace in her unconsciousness, the girl's face was now contorted in a grimace. Behind her eyelids the girl's eyes darted back and forth taking in scenes unseen to anyone else, her arms spasmed in tiny jerks as her dream influenced her body and pained whimpers echoed in her throat. Whatever she was dreaming wasn't pleasant but Tyyrlym could tell that her pains weren't physical so she let her be. For good or ill this dream had brought the girl closer back to the world of the living and she wasn't going to interrupt it.

 

Turning her back to the girl Tyyrlym stripped off her linen tunic and enjoyed the cool air in the room. She glanced at the fire and considered going ahead and taking off her chest wrappings and pants but she decided against it. She wasn't a show off like Mala and if the girl woke up in the middle of the night she would probably feel more comfortable if she still had some of her clothes on.

 

The well-worn leather of the chair cradled her softly as Tyyrlym sank down into its cushiony embrace. She thought that if the girl awoke it would surely wake her as well and she calmly went to sleep. She was deeply asleep when the girl sat bolt upright in bed, and only stirred slightly when the girl collapsed again.

 

********************

 

Tyyrlym stood in the doorway to her room and watched another one of the merchants trudge back down the stairs, him another gold piece richer and her still no closer to learning anything useful. To top it all off even though she had stripped down to just her light linen pants and shirt it was already getting unbearably hot in the inn, she supposed the innkeeper was just being courteous keeping the common area's warm but it didn't change how annoyed she was getting.

 

Tyyrlym took her aggravation out on the door and slammed it hard enough to hear something metal and probably important rattling around inside it like a child's ball. The tiny smile on her lips died when she heard the halfling moan and the raspy cloth of cloth shuffle of the sheets as she moved around in the bed. Tyyrlym padded over to the bed and sat on the edge trying to be as quiet as she could lest she disturb the girl's slumber again and was happy to find that she hadn't, the slamming of the door had annoyed the girl but it hadn't woken her. She was happy to see the girl moving of her own accord but she checked her bandages nonetheless, she had to be sure. Most of the white cloth dressing showed bits of scarlet where the girl's wounds were still weeping but most of it was the dark red of old blood, there was very little new blood and for that she was happy, her powers and medicine were having the desired effect. When she rolled the girl over she saw that some of the blood had seeped through the bandages and had stained the sheets, Tyyrlym reminded herself to leave the innkeep a copper or two for some new sheets when she left.

 

The girl herself was a bit strange for a halfling, the long ringlets atop her head weren't strange, or their rich russet color, and while she was certainly more beautiful and lithe then normal for her typically well rounded people that wasn't what had caught Tyyrlym's attention, not even the delicate red and purple tattoos that adorned much of her arms and legs, it was her hands and feet. Halflings were a people close to the earth and as such it was quite normal for them to develop thick calluses on their hands and feet, the girl had none, in fact it didn't look like she'd spent a day doing manual labor in her life. She dismissed the obvious possibility that like many of her race the girl was a professional thief, she didn't have a single thing on her aside from her clothes and she didn't think that bright green and orange were colors that a thief might choose.

 

Tyyrlym's inspection of her patient was interrupted by a loud knock at her door. Giving the girl another quick look she stood up and went to answer the door.

 

Raul Longstreet was surprised when the woman who opened the door was blue, not a dark blue, really only a few shades from no color at all and it wasn't uniform, the color seemed to shift around her face and exposed skin, leaving a few patches light colored once in a while but she was mostly blue, ice blue. He was speechless for less then a second though, as a merchant who dealt in arms and oddities he had learned long ago that you can't choose your customers they choose you. In the tenspan of years he'd operated his shop in Arlyon he'd had far stranger, fouler, and odder creatures then this girl stroll through and he was quite proud to say that aside from the occasional ruffled feather he'd helped them all.

 

"How do you do? My name is Raul," he said as charmingly as he could manage, which was difficult considering that he had to crane his head to look up at her.

 

She considered him for a moment before giving him a curt nod. "My name is Tyyrlym, I have some questions. I want to ask you about the Halfling village near here."

 

Raul smiled broadly, information was his favorite commodity, its asking price was high and if you were smart maintaining your inventory was free. Yes information was a wonderful thing, pure profit. "Perhaps we should get more comfortable, there is much I can tell you, for the appropriate price."

 

The woman regarded him coldly but Raul didn't mind, once you got past her color she was actually quite lovely, a tad more angular then the merchant cared for but very easy on the eyes. "Your price and your comfort can wait until you prove that you have something useful to tell me."

 

The woman's brusque tone might have put off a lesser merchant but Raul just kept right on smiling while the wheels in his head spun. She wanted a guarantee and he could sympathize, Marz had already assured them that she would give him three gold pieces just for showing up so Raul supposed that he could give her something. "I know that village well, I trade with them quite often."

 

The girl shifted in the doorway, crossing her arms as she considered them. The action drew Raul's eyes to the light linen shift and breeches she was wearing but he stayed focused, just as he'd had stranger looking sentients in his shop he'd had females much more appealing, and much less dressed then her attempt to ply their charms to a lower price. "How often," she asked in her husky voice.

 

"At least once a month though sometimes in the dead of winter the weather can lengthen that."

 

"Why do you go there, everyone else says they don't like outsiders?”

 

Again Raul poured on the charm, "Everyone else isn't me. They're actually as amiable as any other members of their species if they trust you, and they trust me."

 

"Why?"

 

Though not accusatory the woman's tone was still less than friendly. 'If I had to deal with the other idiots Marz has most likely brought to her then I'd be testy too.' "I've been trading here for quite some time, longer than anyone else in this town I assure you, and I've always dealt squarely with them, never tried to cheat them."

 

"What do you trade?"

 

"Cloth, potions, herbs, mostly from the south, things that are hard to come by up here in the north, and a fairly brisk trade in foci materials."

 

"Foci?"

 

Raul kept the grin that threatened to develop on his face in check. The girl's voice was softening and he could tell that he'd just dropped a little something no one else had offered her yet, 'She bit the bait, now to set the hook.' "Yes, lots of strange little items and ingredients, though which is which I don't know, the pay handsomely for them. They have a wizard or two living amongst them, and a sorceress if memory serves."

 

When the blue girl's eyes grew large at the mention of the village sorceress Raul knew he had her. "What do they pay with?"

 

"Jewelry mostly, some fabulously intricate stuff with beautiful gemstones, can't sell much of it here but I sell it off to the southern merchants who pass through. Do you mind if I get comfortable now?"

 

When the girl turned from the door and invited him in Raul tried to remain impassive but he knew his glee was showing, he started to pour over everything he knew or suspected about the halfling village as quickly as he could, trying to judge what each morsel of information was worth. The room was exactly what he expected, one of Marz's upscale suites, well appointed but still a bit rough, showing the hand of the innkeepers wife. 'That woman knows how to appeal to her audience,' he thought, an adventurer should feel right at home here. The large bed that dominated the center of the room had the thick mosquito netting normally reserved for summer drawn around it obscuring the contents and the fire in the fireplace was low, there was a definite chill in the room but the woman was wearing clothes more suited for a midsummer's day down south. The small table and chairs that took up the side of the room between the bed and the door had been pushed far back into the corner of the room and the woman sat down with her back to the corner. "Well," he asked after taking the seat, "what would you like to know? I have to warn you we have moved beyond the initial payment."

 

Tyyrlym pulled a small leather bag from her waist that she dropped on the table with a metallic jangle, she loosened the straps that held it closed and pulled four gold pieces out, three that she slid across to him and the other that she kept in front of herself. "When were you last there?"

 

Raul nodded his thanks for the first pieces. "A week ago, I remember it clearly because I was in the middle of negotiations with my counterpart there when an old man in a gray cloak came storming out of the town hall." He noticed her look of suspicion so he explained, "The ceilings in halfling homes and shops are maybe a meter and a half high, it's difficult to negotiate in a dignified manner when you're bent in half to keep from hitting your head." He curiosity satisfied she bade him to continue. "I was too far away to hear him clearly but the town council followed him out and he started to rail at them, I didn't catch much but it seemed that he wanted to do some kind of research and the council wasn't letting him."

 

"Any idea why?"

 

Raul shook his head, "I don't know, I suppose it's just their distrust of outsiders, I've been trading with them for two decades and I've only been allowed to spend the night in the village for the last five years."

 

"Why don't they trust outsiders?" Raul looked meaningfully down at the coin in front of Tyyrlym and she slid it across the table to him, pulling another from her purse.

 

The coin disappeared from the tabletop with a slickness that would have done a professional thief proud. "I don't know that either, seems a bit strange for halflings."

 

"Is there anything unusual about the village?"

 

The merchant shook his head. "Not really, just a normal walled village, plain as can be in these parts, even if it is half sized. Well actually...there is the quarry."

 

"The quarry?"

 

"Yes, a quarry, abandoned by the looks of it. It's deep but it's overgrown with vines and plants, even a few ponds at the bottom, strange thing is the halflings have an bucket set up to take people up and down into it that looks as fresh as the day it was built, and it's guarded too."

 

"Do you know why?"

 

"No, but not for lack of trying, every single one of them I asked wouldn't say a thing about it, I even tried to bribe my counterpart but he refused it. It might be where their artisan gets all his pretty gems for the jewelry he makes but I don't know."

 

Tyyrlym covered the coin on the table with her palm and seemed to consider his words for a few moments before turning back and asking, "What about these magic users in the village?"

 

Raul glanced down at the hand covering the coin and held it for a second longer then normal; she sent the coin clattering his way. He pocketed the gold without a glance but was surprised that the money was cold to the touch. "There are three, a wizard and I guess his apprentice, and a sorceress."

 

"What do you know about them?”

 

Raul sighed, "Not as much as I might like, most of my contact is with my fellow merchant. The sorceress keeps to herself; I don't see much of her, maybe only twice a year. Now the wizard I do see, he's constantly milling about town with that apprentice in tow. They do all kinds of little things, strengthen animals to help with the plowing, make the crops grow better, things like that. I also see him once in a while on the council, he's their speaker I think."

 

"This sorceress, what does she look like?"

 

Raul chuckled, "She's short," but stopped when Tyyrlym glared at him. "Ahem, curly red hair, bright clothes all the time, lots of tattoos, oh, and she's got these strange pale purple eyes, don't ever recall seeing a halfling with purple eyes before."

 

"Did you see her the last time you were in the village?"

 

Raul looked at his customer suspiciously but said, "Yes I did, she's not part of the council but she advises the three of them, she was there with the rest of them when they turned that old man down."

 

"Anything else?"

 

Raul shrugged. "Alas there is not, aside from their queer behavior they're fairly ordinary folk, that's all I know that might be of any interest, unless you want to know the exchange rate for a bottle of Neverwinter Ale."

 

Tyyrlym shook her head and nodded towards the door, Raul made it halfway there before he decided that he had to satisfy his curiosity. "Might I ask why the interest in the sorceress?"

 

"That depends, can you keep it to yourself?" She asked as she rose from her chair.

 

"Of course." Tyyrlym rose from her chair and made her way to the bed, giving Raul a moment to hustle over before she pulled the mosquito netting back to reveal the small form buried in the voluminous sheets and blankets. Her red hair spread out like a mantle Raul recognized her immediately. "That's her, that's the girl. What happened to her?"

 

"I don't know that's what I'm trying to find out. I found her about a league from here on the road south, she was hurt badly when I found her."

 

Raul quickly did the math in his head, a league south of the town meant that she was nearly fifteen leagues from her village unless she had stumbled through the middle of town in broad daylight without anyone seeing her. The implications of one of the strongest halflings in the village being so far from it and in such a bad condition fell on Raul in a rush. If something had happened to the village he could be out a lot of money, his trade with the little people was almost a third of his business. "What can I do?"

 

The pale woman touched a hand to the sorceress' forehead and then neck before sighing. "At the moment nothing, she's too hurt to move and until I know what happened to her I'm not leaving her in anyone else's care."

 

"And yet you trust me?"

 

"I trust that you're greedy enough that if I promise you fifty gold before I leave to keep this quiet you'll do it."

 

"And Marz?"

 

"The innkeeper? Has he spent time with the halflings? No, innkeepers don't stay in business by telling everyone what their tenants are doing."

 

Apparently the woman's intuition was good, Raul knew that Marz had his sights on something much grander then what his inn was right now and the portly gent spent as much time developing his reputation as his property. Marz's reticence to talk about his boarders' activities had run him afoul with the town watch from time to time but those same watchmen knew that Marz's inn was the place to stay if they wanted a little extramarital dalliance to stay secret. "Is there anything I can do?"

 

"At the moment no, but I may need supplies later."

 

With a courteous bow Raul took his leave, six gold pieces for a half hour's work was a nice profit but what he'd learned was deeply disturbing. The halflings were good people and he wished them no ill, they were also excellent and dependable customers, one's he was not eager to part with. He decided that if this woman meant to help them he would do everything he could, even give her a deep discount on any supplies she might need, at least until it was resolved one way or another.

 

**************

 

Tyyrlym stared at the little sorceress while she ate the lunch that Marz had brought her. She'd had to let it sit out on the ledge in front of the window for half an hour before she could eat it but the food was good. She kept mulling over what the merchant had told her, he had been certainly more useful then the pack of fools the innkeeper had presented her with at first, if he was telling the truth then he was the only one who'd even stepped foot in the village, and her finely honed intuition told her that he was. Her temple training was long in her past but it still served a useful purpose.

 

It dawned on her as she pushed her empty plate across the table that she had been in the inn almost a full day and still hadn't taken a bath. Since the girl seemed to be out of the worst of it Tyyrlym thought she could risk a few unsupervised moments so that she didn't smell like a yak when her patient woke up.

 

She gathered up the remnants of her lunch and set them outside her door in as orderly a pile as she could manage. When she closed the door she saw the pile of rags that used to be the halfling's clothes and the plain muslin bag beneath them. She opened the door again to dump the useless bloody garments on top of the lunch plates so that they would be taken away but kept the bag in her hand remembering that the innkeeper's wife did laundry and it had been quite a while since her clothes had a good cleaning. Moving as rapidly as she could while staying quiet Tyyrlym passed by the foot of the bed and the sleeping girl, unfortunately that took her within less then three meters of the fireplace. Even though it wasn't roaring and probably needed another log thrown on to keep it going the bright embers were still murderously hot and she could feel and see the skin on the side of her facing the coals take on an alarming pink hue, even from the few seconds that she was close to the fire. Thankfully though she wouldn't have to go back for a few minutes.

 

Unlike some people she knew Tyyrlym felt no compulsion to travel lightly, her tall strong frame and a couple of magical items meant that she could probably drag Sturmwind around if she had too and the destier himself could carry an impressive load. It had taken the Marz two trips to get her saddle bag and blankets up to her room and after what she'd paid him for the room and fetching the merchants she was going to take full advantage of his offer to do her laundry, she wasn't being mean spirited, she just had a lot of dirty clothes and ten gold pieces was a ridiculous sum for the room.

 

Tyyrlym smiled a bit as she muttered the activation word over the buckles holding her saddlebags closed. She hadn't been worried about her possessions when she had told Marz to keep his hands out of the bags, it had been for his own good, anyone who tried to open them without first speaking the proper words would get a very nasty shock and a shot of cold that would leave them shivering for hours. Getting the magical glyphs etched on the closures had cost a pretty penny but it had been worth every copper, she hadn't been robbed since she got them. She pulled out the small kit of soaps lotions that she kept on hand along with a dressing gown to wear until her clothes were clean. Then she started to toss blankets, clothes, towels, and anything else made of cloth into the muslin bag until the thin tan bag was stretched to its limits finally when the last saddle blanket had been crammed in she stripped off her own clothes and pushed them in as well. She huffed when she found that even removing the last bit of her clothing didn't make the room feel any cooler but she hurried anyways lest the girl wake up early and get an eyeful, she dashed back by the foot of the bed and tossed the bag by the door. She slipped into the bathroom and shut the door behind her.

 

The large wooden tub wasn't big enough to lay out in but it was big enough and deep enough to recline in and still be covered. The water she'd pumped out of the well was as frigid as could be expected at the onset of winter but Tyyrlym hadn't bothered to heat it up, it was plenty warm for her and the heat was already working the knots out of her muscles. The high window she'd opened up was letting in a pleasant breeze and a few snowflakes and she was feeling comfortable for the first time since she'd arrived at the inn. Once again she cursed the damn mage who'd dispelled the sigil Asaa had painted on her neck. Until she met up with the sorceress again she was going to have to bear the heat as best she could, which was horribly, but she was comfortable for the moment and she was going to enjoy it. Picking up her soaps and lotions from the side of the tub she set about cleaning herself up.

 

In the common room the tiny halfling sorceress tossed and turned in the sheets, what began as a restless slumber turned into a fit and the thick blankets covering her were soon kicked off. Her eyes darted back and forth under her eyelids beholding what terrors prompted her nightmare. Delicate fingers clawed at the sheets whether to defend herself or escape was known only to her subconscious. After a few minutes sweat started to bead on her forehead, her breath was ragged and pitiful whines started to fill the air. The noises coming from her began to turn into words starting out as a whisper and growing in volume. “No…..noooo….get away…Back!...nooooo, stop!...no." As if struck by lighting the girl say straight up in bed, and screamed.

 

Tyyrlym was enjoying a soak after finally getting the last bit of soap and grime out of her hair when a surprisingly loud wail came from the other room. Instincts sharpened from almost a decade of wandering propelled her out of the tub and towards the door before her mind could even process the sound. When it did dawn on her who the shrill scream was probably coming from she grabbed her dressing robe from the door and hurried to put it on as she threw open the bathroom door and charged to the bed side.

 

The girl finally stopped screaming to take a shuddering breath as Tyyrlym came up beside the bed. She inhaled raggedly not minding that she was bare from the waist up since she had kicked the covers off. She seemed to suddenly become of the world around her and she locked eyes with Tyyrlym a half second before someone kicked the door open. Tyyrlym had a split second to register long black hair, olive skin, and a drawn blade before reality twisted in upon itself and then spat out a snarling ball of gray fur in a flash of light.

 

Twice the size of a normal wolf the summoned dire wolf sprang forward catching the intruder in mid stride and driving him back through the doorway. Tyyrlym dove across the bed and scrambled over to the window seat where her equipment laid, her questing fingers quickly seized the ring she was looking for and slipped it on her finger. Standing quickly she brought her hand up to point at the door way and she barked out the activation word. There was a bright flash from the hallway and the snarling stopped only to be replaced by rapid fire cursing in high elven. Tyyrlym had no time to laugh at the man's consternation as the wild-eyed halfling was turning towards her. "You're safe! We're not going to hurt you!"

 

The girl's arm stopped midrise as the words washed over her ears but it was only a pause, her right hand still came up and pointed at her but nothing happened, aside from quivering that was infecting the little sorceress' entire body the hand started no cabalistic passes and her mouth didn't start and incantation. Tyyrlym was still on edge though, the girl had summoned up the first dire wolf without making a sound and in these close quarters with no weapon or armor Tyyrlym wasn't interested in getting attacked by one. The girl's armed stayed squarely pointed at her but she made no other moves for which Tyyrlym was glad, the girl had been able to summon a fairly large creature without any gestures or words of power, she had simply willed it into existence. The halfling was a far stronger sorceress then she had expected. "We're not going to hurt you, you're safe here," Tyyrlym said soothingly. "My name is Tyyrlym, what's yours?"

 

The girl's arm quivered, her hand dipped and no longer pointed directly at Tyyrlym. She appeared to be concentrating hard before answering, "Kiori....Wendt, Kiori Wendt."

 

Kiori tried to process all that was happening to her but it was too sudden and too strange and her mind was still reeling. The blue woman had dispelled her creature but hadn't done anything else, the man with the sword was still cursing outside the door but he hadn't come back in. Offering her name had seemed like a simple thing something about hearing the blue woman's name had calmed her mind and put her at ease, he arm started to drop, until she saw someone moving in the doorway.

 

"Marik, stop!"

 

When Tyyrlym spoke the man's name Kiori wanted to relax but she could see the anger in his eyes and the sword in his hand. He looked like an elf with his long straight black hair, slanted hazel eyes, and earth toned armor but his skin was far too dark and his body obviously to large, even to Kiori to whom almost everyone was too large.

 

"Put it away Marik, she's confused."

 

Kiori was confused, she knew it, but so long as that long thin sword was in his hand she wasn't backing down.

 

"Put it AWAY!"

 

Grudgingly the big elf did as he was told and Kiori saw Tyyrlym walking around the bed to stand between them. The silvery blade slid back into its sheath at his side but his eyes remained fixed on Kiori.

 

"It's alright Kiori, we're here to help."

 

"What the hell is going on Tyyr?"

 

Despite Marik's gruff tone Kiori could feel Tyyrlym's words working on her, she wanted to do what the blue woman told her, to believe her. Kiori wondered if maybe she was using some kind of enchantment to motivate her but she didn't care.

 

Like a rag doll the exhausted halfling collapsed into the bed in a heap, her legs folding up beneath her. Tyyrlym moved quickly and wrapped her up in a blanket just as Marz shouldered past Marik.

 

"What in the nine hells is going on up here!?" He turned his head to look at Marik. "And who are you?"

 

"He's a friend Marz. Everything is fine, just a little misunderstanding."

 

The innkeeper looked doubtful but he said nothing.

 

"I've got some clothes by the door, if you could get them done in a hurry I'd appreciate it."

 

Marz cast a few more dubious glances Marik and Tyyrlym's way before grabbing the muslin bag and closing the door behind him.

 

When the latch clicked shut Marik asked, "What is going on around here?"

 

"What do you mean what's going on around here? What are you doing here?"

 

Kiori fought to try to comprehend what was going on and follow the conversation in the room but she couldn't focus. A dozen thoughts and memories raced through her mind, a hundred questions stood poised to be asked but only the least complicated could force its way to the front to actually be articulated.

 

Tyyrlym and Marik's impending argument to a halt as Kiori's soft voice asked, "Why are you blue?"

 

============================================================

 

Author's Notes

 

Acknowledgements:

 

It gets repetitive but as always Lighthawk, psianogen, Warpwizard, and this time otakunomike, they fielded some stupid questions and listened to me rattle on about this story for longer then they should have.

 

Notes:

 

1) Destier - The warhorse a knight used for fighting

 

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You don't need to tell me I suck, I'm well aware of that.