Fan Fiction ❯ In the Service of the Red Lady ❯ Frigid Reception ( Chapter 2 )

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 Two: Frigid Reception

 

"WHERE IS IT!?"

 

Kaiwei tried hard not to focus on her master's wailing but after two days it was becoming difficult, it echoed off the walls of the mine assaulting her from every direction refusing to let her concentrate on anything else. The constant stream of complaints never ended. Out of the gloom of the shaft she saw a small form in the distance coming closer. As it flew towards them she saw the hideous little face attached to the tiny twisted body, a pair of malformed horns sprouting just above its eyes. The thing's tattered wings beat at the air driving it forward with an unnatural alacrity for something so misshapen.

 

As Trogan's imp familiar flew towards her Kaiwei had to suppress her usual urge. 'Just a quick draw, a flick of the wrist, and a year to convince him to pick something else.' But as always she stayed her hand, not only would killing the disgusting bug hurt Trogan, something she could never abide, but he would also know of it instantly and she would have no chance to hide the remains of the body.

 

"I cast the proper divination! I offered Vecna my eye! He gave me the vision but it's not HERE!"

 

Kaiwei came close to wishing that her old master had survived his attempt to double cross the Drow matron he had been cooperating with, at least he hadn't needed her to continually keep him focused even if he had been stupid enough to try to cheat a Drow. That damn species expect you to try and cheat them. "The mine is large master, it stretches out and down for miles, and we search for a small thing. It will take time," she said as soothingly as she could.

 

She heard the flutter of leathery wings behind her as the imp settled down to roost after his apparently fruitless last scouting assignment. "Time is something we don't have! It will take us more than four tendays to return to Thay, if I do not find it soon we will not have enough time to return before I am missed. If the lich tries to discover what we are up to before we can return and study it we are doomed!"

 

'You're doomed,' Kaiwei corrected him in her head. 'You're doomed, I'm just a Thayan Knight, we only protect you from threats from without, not ambition from within.' "Of course master."

 

The Red Wizard's robes rustled behind her, without even looking she knew that he was staring at the back of her shorn head. "Why aren't you searching?!"

 

Kaiwei struggled to keep her voice suitably deferent. "My purpose is to protect you and we have not searched the mine completely. Surely the golems at the entrance won't be the only defenses the Netherese put in place."

 

"What about Rickoh and Barin?"

 

Kaiwei kept her tone as conciliatory as possible. "They must keep watch on the surface master, if someone comes we need to know about it before they enter the mine." Both of her underlings were good enough knights to deserve their own wizard to protect rather than aiding her but that was none of their decisions.

 

"Foolishness," the Red Wizard snapped. "Xizor can handle anyone who comes snooping around."

 

'The hound,' Kaiwei thought with disgust. Her master placed too much faith in his undead creations in her opinion. In hers they were too easily destroyed by someone properly equipped and far too likely to mess something up. "He is but one set of eyes and ears milord and even they are clouded by death's shroud; during the day it only gets worse. So long as the sun is in the sky Rickoh and Barin serve better as lookouts."

 

Trogan said nothing else to her but the imp started to chitter away after some unheard command from its owner. Its leathery wings beat at the air as it took flight again.

 

At one time in her life Kaiwei had thought it fortuitous that she had been chosen by Trogan to serve as his knight. After her last charge had died at the hands of a Drow priestess she had expected to fall in standing within the order. After all the wizard under her protection had died even if it was through no fault of her own. When Trogan had approached her she had been surprised, not only was the necromancer higher in standing within the wizards than her old master had been but he was a rising star within his school. She would increase her standing among the knights and if things went well she could rise as far in her ranks as Trogan could in his. After two years he had advanced far enough to take two more knights and Rickoh and Barin had joined them. Things had looked good for everyone involved until this.

 

The imp flew past her and back out into the darkness outside the torchlight Trogan kept by his side. She heard him start to cast another spell and was over come by a faint uneasiness as she realized it was yet another spell to aid him in his search. The number of spells of that type that he had used so far was making her uneasy, how many could he have ready to defend them if he was using them all in his search?

 

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

 

"Put it AWAY!"

 

Marik shoved Kiildran back into its scabbard a little harder than the relic deserved and he kept his eyes locked on the halfling. The girl had attacked him once already and he was loath to be without his weapon but Tyyrlym's judgment was typically good and her people skills were much better than his. Still he kept his hand close to the hilt of his sword.

 

"It's alright Kiori, we're here to help," Tyyrlym said soothingly. Marik sometimes wondered if she hadn't been a bard or a sorceress at some point in her life based off of how unnaturally charming her voice could be. Still it didn't smooth out everything.

 

 

"What the hell is going on Tyyr?" He demanded as the halfling slumped onto the bed and she wrapped the sorceress back up under the blankets. He didn't get his answer until a rather portly gentleman shoulder his way into the room.

 

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

 

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

 

The innkeeper looked doubtful of her story but he said nothing. Marik considered the man for a moment but quickly dismissed him as a threat returning his concentration to the only unknown in the room, the halfling girl who had just thrown a wolf at him. He barely noticed Tyyrlym dismissing the man with her laundry.

 

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?"

 

"What do you think, She sent me."

 

"Well how did you get here this fast?"

 

Marik waved his hand, "She said I would find you in Arlyon, Asaa cast a spell and now I'm here."

 

"Magiere must be crushed."

 

"I'm happy to be away from the little freak. You still haven't answered my question."

 

Tyyrlym tucked the girl in a little tighter and stood up. "I found her on the road into town pretty beat up. She's from a village nearby. Does that answer your question."

 

"Not even close. Details, I know they train you to be vague in baby paladin school but the rest of us like details."

 

"Why are you blue?"

 

Tyyrlym's retort died on her lips and Marik was even caught off guard by the tiny voice from the bed.

 

"Why are you blue?"

 

'Have you got a while?' Marik thought with a chuckle.

 

"That's not important," Tyyrlym said gently. "You need to rest, you need to get better."

 

The girl's eyes started to close slowly like she was fighting it but in the end she failed and she slept once more.

 

"How do you do that?" Marik asked. "I wanted to just lay down and go to sleep."

 

"One of those things they teach you in baby paladin's school." She said as she straightened her changing gown out. "When you spend your days talking to trees I suppose it stunts the growth of your people skills."

 

Marik just glared at her.

 

"Fine, yesterday I found her on the road south of here, maybe two or three miles out of town. She was hurt badly so I brought her here and tended her wounds. There's a halfling village northeast of here and I talked to some merchants this morning about it. They're reclusive and this girl here is a local sorceress. A few days ago one of the merchants saw an old man having a vigorous discussion with the village council."

 

"So you think that might have something to do with her showing up on the road?"

 

Tyyrlym nodded, "Mmhmm, she's also marked."

 

Even though he tried to keep his face impassive his eyes still grew large. As calmly as he could he reached up and tapped his forehead just over his nose.

 

"Yes."

 

Marik blew out the breath he had been holding and considered things for a moment. "Well that sort of changes everything. I guess this explains the wolf."

 

"Probably."

 

"I take it you plan on investigating?"

 

"Of course."

 

"When?"

 

"As soon as she's healed, a day or two."

 

Marik's eyebrow raised in doubt. "A day or two? I think you're underestimating things."

 

Tyyrlym shook her head, "Not likely, yesterday it looked like that dire wolf that got after you had had its merry way with her and I didn't use any magic or potions to heal her. The first time I saw her I was sure she was dead, nobody should have lived through the wounds she had."

 

"I guess she is marked." If the girl was healing as quickly as Tyyrlym said she was then Marik didn't doubt the paladin's prognosis, it was a little hard to believe but on more occasions then he liked to think about he'd been wounded grievously and recovered quickly all thanks to the gift of being marked. "You could speed this up with a potion or a spell you know."

 

"You know I won't deny her..."

 

"...what she earned. Yes I know. What kind of paladin doesn't heal people when they need it?"

 

"Former Paladin, and she doesn't need it, she's going to be fine."

 

Marik sighed and started to remove his bow and equipment, laying them on the table as he did. "Yes but she could be up and about in five minutes if you'd just wave your hands and heal her."

 

"Struggle breeds strength, if I give her the quick..."

 

"...easy way out you rob her of a chance to grow. I know, I've heard it before and it still doesn't make any sense Tyyr."

 

"We've been going back and forth about this for two years Marik, I doubt anything I say today will end it."

 

Marik took off Kiildran last and laid it aside in its own place on the table. "Probably not. It just seems wasteful to leave a girl like that all scarred up."

 

"She's a sorceress and a strong one apparently. If she doesn't want them nothing will be forcing her to keep them."

 

"Still seems a shame."

 

Tyyrlym ignored him and started to get her blue locks in order, running her fingers through the tangles until they all fell nice and orderly to her shoulder blades. Tyyrlym wasn't looking his way so Marik felt no compulsion to look away from her and he stared at her pleasing shape. The dressing gown she wore was starting to soak through in some inconvenient places but Tyyrlym didn't seem to mind, Marik had seen her in much less before and she him. Her face was serene as always, she was beautiful though less in the soft and pleasant way a Deva might be and more in a hard severe way. Marik sighed a bit, it wasn't that he and Tyyrlym had screaming fights when they were around each other, it was just the low level way they irritated each other constantly that had kept them from getting anywhere; of course her being a living ice cube didn't help either. Sometimes he wondered if their unspoken agreement to keep it platonic had been the right thing.

 

"If you're done leering at me do you have anything in your pack I could wear until Marz returns with my clothes?"

 

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

 

Kaiwei's eyes shifted nervously back and forth as they made their way down another dark tunnel. Her master's torch offered up only a pitiful light to confront the all-consuming blackness. Their shadows danced along the ways before growing long and being swallowed by the darkness that surrounded them. The Thayan Knight's eyes darted back and forth, attracted to each shifting shadow and inkling of movement. The unease that had been clawing at Kaiwei's consciousness since they had descended into this mine was growing worse with each passing minute, with every unexplained noise and half glimpsed mirage. Her master's constant casting of divination and searching spells was not helping her nervousness, he hadn't prepared a single combat spell in days. She could defend them against strength of arms but without Trogan's spells something arcane could have its merry way with them.

 

"Just a little farther," Trogan muttered aloud to no one. "It will be at the end of a tunnel, he said it would be." Kaiwei's excellent hearing was barely able to pick up the whispered, "It must be," he ended with.

 

As they approached the end of the tunnel Kaiwei saw more and more glittering jewels and veins of shining metal ore. Flashes of dirty red and dull green were interspersed with streaks of gold and quicksilver. In spite of all the obvious wealth ripe for the taking there were no signs of recent mining. Thick layers of dirt and dust covered everything. Metal bands poked up out of the ground, the skeletal remains of buckets, her foot caught on a pick head whose shaft was missing. It looked as though they were the first people to be in this mine in centuries. 'Something must have gone wrong long ago,' she thought. 'No one would leave such a mine unexploited. Something is very, very wrong here.'

 

"Here we are," Trogan declared with a bit of his former surety. "Guard me if you think you must but stay out of my way."

 

"I must," Kaiwei whispered to herself. As she turned her back to her master and peered back out into the gloom her hand fell to the hilt of her sword. Nervous and jumpy Kaiwei slowly drew it.

 

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

 

"So why do you think she was chosen?"

 

Tyyrlym carefully ran the brush down Sturmwind's side taking great care to ensure that she was following the grain of her destier's coat. The greathorse softly whinnied his approval and she patted his neck as she moved the brush over a few inches and started again. "I don't know."

 

"Don't you wonder?" Marik asked.

 

"If she wants us to know why, she'll tell us."

 

Marik's eyes shifted back and forth to see if any of the other horse owners staying in the inn had come to check on their mounts. Finding none he continued, "Tokimi isn't exactly the most forth coming in her reasons."

 

Tyyrlym moved on to Sturmwind's mane and she began to brush out the long ashen hair. "She doesn't have to be."

 

"You have to wonder why sometimes, every human wants to know why, it's part of being what you are."

 

"And what part of you is," Tyyrlym said offhandedly.

 

"That's not the point!" Marik hissed.

 

Tyyrlym sighed and turned to Marik, taking the brush off her hand and laying it atop the wall that divided Sturmwind's stall from the next over. She returned the hand to his neck but he didn't complain, only leaning gently into her touch. "Yes, I do wonder, but I know that's all it will ever be, idle curiosity. I don't know, I can't know, and if she told me her reason I doubt I would be able to fathom it Marik. She's a goddess, we're mortals, your questions will have to wait until we cross over. I content myself with the knowledge that my questions will be answered eventually, just not on this plane, in this life."

 

Marik shook his head. "Paladins... What do you think we'll find in the halfling village?"

 

"Nothing good I'd imagine."

 

"Asaa watching Ched Nasad burn, Magiere's tribe, Mala's mentor, your parents," Marik took a deep breath, "my king, I very much doubt that anything good awaits us."

 

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

 

"Barin, report."

 

The miniature voice coming from the small stud in his right ear had stopped startling Barin long ago, in fact he'd found that he could usually pick up on the small vibrations that preceded its activation. Even though he had seen nothing in his patrol he still kept his voice low, whatever enchantment Trogan had put on these earrings it didn't adjust for the intensity of your voice so he kept his voice low lest it injure Kaiwei's ear.

 

"Nothing milady. It has been deathly quiet, just like yesterday."

 

"That is Xizor's doing."

 

"He has that effect on the living."

 

"Very well, keep me appraised of anything you might see. When the sun sets get some sleep and let Xizor take over."

 

"Yes ma'am. Ma'am?"

 

"What is it?"

 

"The hired help wants permission to loot and burn the village."

 

Even through the enchanted earring Kaiwei's derision was unmistakable. "Tell the brutes to stay where they are, if they so much as break a single door or burn down a fence before we are ready to leave they'll be fodder for the hound."

 

"Yes ma'am."

 

"We can't have anything attracting notice until we are well away from here."

 

"Yes ma'am."

 

"Only a little while longer Barin and we can leave this blasted place and return to Thay, remain vigilant."

 

"Yes ma'am."

 

The earring vibrated again as the enchantment released itself. "No doubt she's telling Rickoh the same thing," he said to himself. He didn't envy their leader in the least, she'd been down in the stinking hole for days, and he wondered how she was able to tell what time it was. The young Thayan knight looked to the west again, the sun was getting low; already the bottom of the flaming orb was kissing the tops of the trees. "Just one more hour," he murmured. Another hour and he'd be able to retire to the meeting hall that he and Rickoh had appropriated for their lodgings, it was the only building save the barns that they could stand up in in the entire town. Adjusting his shield and tightening up his eternally loose left vambrace the knight set off. It would take him about an hour to make another round, check on the rest of Trogan's minions and if he timed it right he'd finish up just as Xizor emerged and he could get some rest.

 

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

 

Once again Kiori's mind struggled to the surface. She was still in the big bed but now the room was dark save for the pale red glow of the fireplace. She might have gotten up to look around if not for the bone-chilling cold she could feel on her face, the fireplace wasn't doing its job. Instead Kiori hiked the thick covers up over her body and pulled them down tighter while she rolled over and tried to find a more comfortable way to lie, some of her wounds were starting to itch.

 

From the looks of things she was still in the same room she had awoken in before which meant she was probably in Arlyon since you'd have to go through Arlyon to get to Mersham and she didn't think she'd been out of it for that long before the first time she'd awoke. Besides, her wounds had been bandaged with some obvious care and no one who had been concerned for her well-being would have ridden all the way to Mersham before finding a place to stay.

 

After a little more fidgeting she was comfortable and her eyes adjusted she could make out the form of the big elf sitting at the table. The blue woman was nowhere to be seen which made her wary but she had defended him so he was not likely dangerous. The chair he was sitting in was tipped perilously far back against the wall but he seemed to have no problem sitting there bundled up in quite a few blankets. His sword and a large bow sat on top of a pile of various pieces of equipment on the table in front of him.

 

Seeking out her azure savior Kiori rolled the other way and found herself looking at a large window with a ledge in front of it. A big leather chair sat nearby, empty save for another pile of martial accouterments stacked up in its overstuffed embrace. The woman who Kiori suspected was the same person she had seen on the road was sitting on the ledge in front of the window. Her head relaxed against the frame, apparently asleep with one of her knees pulled up to her chest with her arms draped across it. The lights of the street lamps below the window and the glow of the moon above outlined her perfectly and Kiori found herself staring. She found herself wishing she could see her eyes again, most of what had happened on the road was fuzzy and unclear but those eyes...she wanted to see them again. It felt strange to her that she trusted this woman so quickly, even if she had tended her wounds she still had no idea what she wanted with her. Still, something about it felt right, even the big elf, it wasn't much to go on, just a feeling but she had learned to trust her feelings.

 

Regardless she was still cautious, with a quick gesture a small raven popped into being in front of her. With a quick unspoken command the bird flew up into the rafters out of sight. While she was sleeping the bird would keep watch.

 

Tired beyond measure she rolled back over and went back to sleep.

 

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

 

With a gesture and a word one of the runes on Kaiwei's shield flashed and an iron wall sealed off the dead-end tunnel she and Trogan were in. 'Not perfectly sealed in,' Kaiwei mused as she noted a few small gaps and fissures where the iron wall met the stone roof, 'but good enough.' The wall would keep them safe in the dead-end tunnel for the night and give Trogan a chance to study his spells. Kaiwei could still not relax though, they had been searching for days and found nothing, absolutely nothing. Every passing hour increased the chances that something would go wrong, that someone would notice the empty village. There wasn't even a guarantee that they had gotten everyone, right now some halfling could be out imploring some local baron or lord to oust them. Even without Trogan's spells she was sure that the knights and her could handle anything the locals populace mustered but if a halfling made it to a lord then all could be lost. Once again she did the math in her head and assured herself that in this time and even on horseback a halfling could only just now be arriving at one of the local castles, and it would take just as long, if not longer, for any help to arrive.

 

That didn't make her feel any better, even as Trogan dimmed his magical torch she found herself staring at the iron wall. She knew there was something in this mine, something so horrible that even though it was obviously still rich no one would touch it. Kaiwei's eyes never left the wall, even as she laid her sword and shield close to her and as she tried to wedge her leather hip pouch against the rock she stared at it. There was something out there and she doubted very much that that iron wall would even slow it down if it came for them.

 

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

 

When the morning sun peeked up over the rooftops to shine down into their room Tyyrlym drooped her head and tried to ignore it. She squirmed for a moment trying to get closer to the glass than she already was, if she woke up she'd have to get up and that meant wondering around in a building entirely too hot for her tastes.

 

Pain, that was the first sensation Marik felt as he awoke. The aching persistent pain that could only come from trying to sleep in a chair that wasn't meant for anything but a meal or the occasional card game. Groaning he reached back for his necked and rocked his chair forward the legs landing with a loud thump.

 

The screeching of her summoned raven brought Kiori awake in an instant; even before her eyes could adjust to the dawn they were scanning the room to find out what had caused the animal to start making the racket.

 

Marik's surprise at discovering a bird in their room was soon overwhelmed by the shock of finding himself staring down the halfling girl's arm for the second time in as many days as arcane power started to twist the space around it.

 

The raven's shriek brought Tyyrlym out of her slumber in an instant, light poured into her eyes as she spun up and towards the noise but they stopped when she saw Kiori gesturing towards Marik. The girl had pulled the sheets up tight around to her neck, whether to keep her warm or protect her modesty Tyyrlym didn't know. As her fingers stopped moving even an untrained commoner would have been able to feel the Weave humming as the halfling prepared to do something unpleasant to Marik with it's energy. "Kiori you're safe!" she yelled over the raven's excited screeches.

 

While one small arm stayed pointed at Marik Kiori's head whirled around to look at her. The startled fear on her face was soon replaced by a wan smile as she locked eyes with the paladin. Just as quickly as it started the gathering of power dissipated and with only a small gesture the raucous bird was banished from this reality. "Where am I," she asked tiredly.

 

"Arylon, in the inn."

 

"How long have I been here?"

 

"Two nights." The girl gazed up at the ceiling and seemed to consider this. The way the bed swallowed up the girl's tiny form and the weary look on her face struck Tyyrlym as strange. 'No one that small should have troubles like those.'

 

"Who's he," she asked.

 

"Marik, a friend of mine."

 

"Have you seen any other halflings?"

 

Tyyrlym paused before answering, "No, you're the only one." This time the pause dragged on for many many moments while the Kiori stared off into space. Tyyrlym could just see the beginnings of tears in the corner of her eyes. "Kiori?" Tyyrlym implored, "What happened?" The girl remained resolutely silent and Tyyrlym tried again. "Kiori please tell us what happened, we want to help."

 

"Everyone's dead," Kiori whispered, her voice hoarse as she began to choke up, "They're all dead."

 

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

 

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) Talk talk talk. You'll get your bloodshed later.

 

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