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A Rose In The Wind: A Saga of the Halmae -- Updated June 19, 2014
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<blockquote data-quote="Ilex" data-source="post: 5031800" data-attributes="member: 82687"><p><strong>8x03</strong></p><p></p><p>The zombie fight was over, and Tavi was tired. He hesitated to admit that to himself – and not for all the gold in Pol Aego was he admitting it to <em>Phoebe</em> – but it was true. </p><p></p><p>His exhaustion nonetheless seemed insignificant as he watched Kormick flop onto one of the chapel's pews, lie back, and close his eyes beneath a mask of blood and bruises. <em>That's just about how I felt after fighting Lurx</em>, thought Tavi – and an image of Savina's face as she healed him came unbidden into his mind. He smiled inwardly and marveled at the power of her healing abilities: less than an hour ago, he was nearly dead. Now, he was tired. </p><p></p><p>He caught Savina’s eye. She was observing as Thurran, Nyoko, and Mena tried to soothe Jalissi, the dwarven women they'd just rescued from the zombies. Jalissi wouldn't speak – not even to Thurran. Mena settled for gripping the woman's hand briefly and telling her calmly, "Throughout history, dwarves have survived. You can survive. You are in good company." She asked for no response, and Jalissi didn't give one … except that her eyes met Mena's briefly.</p><p></p><p>"There's no healing I can give Jalissi for this," murmured Savina, stepping up beside Tavi. "I think – I think she just needs time."</p><p></p><p>"I hope she gets time, but she can't have it here," said Tavi. "We have to keep moving."</p><p></p><p>"I don't understand what she's doing here," continued Savina. "Why would Alirrian priestesses – even undead ones – do that to her?"</p><p></p><p>"I don't think they did. I think the derro put her there to distract the zomb – I mean, the priestesses – from Lurx's tunneling project down the hall. Kartan was probably the first distraction they left here. After he died, they brought in Jalissi."</p><p></p><p>"That's terrible," whispered Savina. Savina looked tired too, he noticed. Of course she did. For Tavi, this was new, but years of Mena’s training had prepared him. He couldn’t even imagine what Savina must be going through.</p><p></p><p>Phoebe swooped down in front of Tavi's face. <span style="color: magenta">Hey, Tavi, you should put your arm around Savina or something! Make a move! That would cheer her up!</span></p><p></p><p>Tavi shook his head. </p><p></p><p><span style="color: magenta">Well, it'd cheer <em>me</em> up.</span></p><p></p><p>Twiggy had gone back down the hall to fetch Rose and the rest of the dwarves, and now she led them all into the room. Sertani and Corani hurried to their sister-wife. As Corani ministered to Jalissi, Thurran tugged on Sertani's hand. </p><p></p><p>"That one over there was <em>amazing</em>!" he told her, pointing to the Justicar, who was still sprawled on a pew.</p><p></p><p>Sertani blinked. "Truly?" Tavi grinned at the skepticism in her voice. </p><p></p><p>Dragged toward Kormick by her son, Sertani stood over the Justicar and asked, in Common, "<em>You</em> were brave?"</p><p></p><p>"Merely functional," grunted Kormick, eyes still closed.</p><p></p><p>Thurran tugged his mother's hand yet again and said, in Dwarven, "Tell him how amazing he was!" </p><p></p><p>"The Lord Rockminder wishes to express his considered admiration for your valiant actions."</p><p></p><p>Kormick's eyes slitted open and took in the glowing hero-worship on the face of the seven-year-old. Then he turned his head to look at Tavi: "Sorry, Tavi. The little one's on my team now." He noticed Savina. "I don't suppose my much-admired self could get some healing over here?" he muttered, closing his eyes again.</p><p></p><p>Tavi expected Savina to be stricken to the core by the Justicar's rudeness. Maybe she was. But she merely walked to Kormick's side and put her hand on his forehead. "I – I had to rest a little," she explained softly.</p><p></p><p>Kormick sighed in relief as her healing powers took effect. </p><p></p><p>"I know, I know," he said, his eyes still closed. "You are very kind. In Dar Und, we – well. Perhaps I am the slightest little bit out of practice with kindness. You understand?"</p><p></p><p><em>There's something you don't see every day, Pheebs</em>, Tavi thought. <em>Kormick just apologized for something. Sort of.</em></p><p></p><p><span style="color: magenta">Just because it's unusual doesn't make it exciting.</span></p><p></p><p><em>Look, go dive-bomb Whisper or something.</em></p><p></p><p><span style="color: magenta">Okay!</span> The hummingbird took off across the room, then swooped back, then vanished into the hall, and then was back. <span style="color: magenta">Where’s Whisper?</span></p><p></p><p>"So," said Kormick, sitting up and gesturing at the fountain. "Is it too much to hope that we've arrived at the famous spring?"</p><p></p><p>"I don't think that's it," said Savina.</p><p></p><p>"Because, for the record, I am very much hoping that we've arrived at the famous spring and now we can all relax and sleep for twenty years." </p><p></p><p>Savina walked over, put her hand into the water, and shook her head. "This water doesn't feel holy to me." </p><p></p><p>"But this place is obviously an Alirrian chapel," said Rose. "It must be the monastery from my mother's stories."</p><p></p><p>"The Honored Mother in Lord's Edge mentioned a monastery that he and the other Inquisitors attacked," said Savina, "but I thought it was in the city of Cauldron."</p><p></p><p>"There are hot baths in Cauldron," murmured Nyoko, more to herself than anyone else. Acorn suddenly popped his head up out of Twiggy’s dress and looked with starving intensity at Nyoko. Twiggy stroked his head reassuringly as she joined in the conversation.</p><p></p><p>"The monks retreated to Cauldron after an earlier attack, I think," said Twiggy. "But I'm pretty sure Dona Giovanna said they used to live closer to the spring. Do you remember, Rose?"</p><p></p><p>"You've got it right. Mother spoke about an old monastery about five or six days away from the spring."</p><p></p><p>"If this is it, then I bet there's a path from here," Twiggy concluded triumphantly. "We're close!"</p><p></p><p>"Five or six days is not 'close,'" said Kormick. "Not in the Ketkath."</p><p></p><p>Whisper glided in through the doorway and swept silently to Rose's shoulder. Phoebe immediately launched an attack on the pseudodragon.</p><p></p><p><em>Phoebe!</em></p><p></p><p><span style="color: magenta">You told me to!</span></p><p></p><p><em>True enough. Carry on.</em></p><p></p><p><span style="color: magenta">Hey!</span> Phoebe chirped in outrage as Rose swatted her away and rolled her eyes at Tavi. Tavi shrugged with pretend innocence.</p><p></p><p>"Whisper has news if you'll condescend to let him tell me about it, brother Octavian," Rose announced with faux-haughtiness.</p><p></p><p>Tavi gave her an exaggerated bow. "At your service."</p><p></p><p>Rose parodied a quick curtsy, but then the twinkle went out of her eye as Whisper silently spoke to her. "Whisper says that one derro sneaked away at the end of the fight with Lurx," she explained. "He went into that tunnel we saw branching off to one side, halfway down the crevice. Whisper followed him for some time, but it's a very long tunnel."</p><p></p><p>"He's almost certainly gone to seek reinforcements," spoke up Nyoko. "That tunnel leads back to the main derro warren."</p><p></p><p>"<em>This</em> isn't the main one?" demanded Mena.</p><p></p><p>Nyoko shook her head, and Mena groaned in annoyance. "They brought me here through that tunnel," Nyoko continued. "It's six miles long. It took us about five hours to traverse it – we can assume that the derro reinforcements will make better speed than chained slaves. To be safe, in fact, we should assume that a renewed force of derro will arrive here in about eight hours."</p><p></p><p>Silence fell. An exhausted silence. They weren't done yet. </p><p></p><p>Mena sighed. "Then our goal is simple. We must leave this hateful place far behind us before then, which I suspect we're all eager to do anyway. Let's keep moving."</p><p></p><p>"Dame Mena has it right," agreed Kormick. "Slave, that unobtrusive little door in the back wall requires your attention."</p><p></p><p>Tavi looked around for Arden. She was standing near the hallway, not paying attention.</p><p></p><p>"Slave," said Kormick. "The door."</p><p></p><p>She looked up, startled, and then flashed an apologetic smile. "Yes, Justicar," she said, and crossed the room. </p><p></p><p>There was a <em>click</em> as Arden opened the small door. They all stayed silent as she put an eye to the crack in the door, then opened it a little wider. Suddenly she withdrew her head and gingerly, using both hands, closed the door. She turned around, looking paler than usual.</p><p></p><p>"Please you, it's a hallway," she said softly. "And it's lined with corpses. Four high on each side, on shelves cut into the stone. The corpses look like – " She looked at the dead zombies. "They look like them. And some of the shelves are empty." </p><p></p><p>"Soooo," said Kormick. "We would not want to enter that hallway and, let us say, wake anyone else up." </p><p></p><p>Arden nodded fervently. </p><p></p><p>Tavi looked at the group. They were all looking at each other, every face saying in its own way what Kormick had said aloud. </p><p></p><p>Rose seemed to hold her breath as she looked down, concern showing clearly on her face.</p><p></p><p>"Then," said Tavi, "let's see where the tunnel <em>outside</em> the entrance to this room ends up."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ilex, post: 5031800, member: 82687"] [b]8x03[/b] The zombie fight was over, and Tavi was tired. He hesitated to admit that to himself – and not for all the gold in Pol Aego was he admitting it to [i]Phoebe[/i] – but it was true. His exhaustion nonetheless seemed insignificant as he watched Kormick flop onto one of the chapel's pews, lie back, and close his eyes beneath a mask of blood and bruises. [i]That's just about how I felt after fighting Lurx[/i], thought Tavi – and an image of Savina's face as she healed him came unbidden into his mind. He smiled inwardly and marveled at the power of her healing abilities: less than an hour ago, he was nearly dead. Now, he was tired. He caught Savina’s eye. She was observing as Thurran, Nyoko, and Mena tried to soothe Jalissi, the dwarven women they'd just rescued from the zombies. Jalissi wouldn't speak – not even to Thurran. Mena settled for gripping the woman's hand briefly and telling her calmly, "Throughout history, dwarves have survived. You can survive. You are in good company." She asked for no response, and Jalissi didn't give one … except that her eyes met Mena's briefly. "There's no healing I can give Jalissi for this," murmured Savina, stepping up beside Tavi. "I think – I think she just needs time." "I hope she gets time, but she can't have it here," said Tavi. "We have to keep moving." "I don't understand what she's doing here," continued Savina. "Why would Alirrian priestesses – even undead ones – do that to her?" "I don't think they did. I think the derro put her there to distract the zomb – I mean, the priestesses – from Lurx's tunneling project down the hall. Kartan was probably the first distraction they left here. After he died, they brought in Jalissi." "That's terrible," whispered Savina. Savina looked tired too, he noticed. Of course she did. For Tavi, this was new, but years of Mena’s training had prepared him. He couldn’t even imagine what Savina must be going through. Phoebe swooped down in front of Tavi's face. [color="magenta"]Hey, Tavi, you should put your arm around Savina or something! Make a move! That would cheer her up![/color] Tavi shook his head. [color="magenta"]Well, it'd cheer [i]me[/i] up.[/color] Twiggy had gone back down the hall to fetch Rose and the rest of the dwarves, and now she led them all into the room. Sertani and Corani hurried to their sister-wife. As Corani ministered to Jalissi, Thurran tugged on Sertani's hand. "That one over there was [i]amazing[/i]!" he told her, pointing to the Justicar, who was still sprawled on a pew. Sertani blinked. "Truly?" Tavi grinned at the skepticism in her voice. Dragged toward Kormick by her son, Sertani stood over the Justicar and asked, in Common, "[i]You[/i] were brave?" "Merely functional," grunted Kormick, eyes still closed. Thurran tugged his mother's hand yet again and said, in Dwarven, "Tell him how amazing he was!" "The Lord Rockminder wishes to express his considered admiration for your valiant actions." Kormick's eyes slitted open and took in the glowing hero-worship on the face of the seven-year-old. Then he turned his head to look at Tavi: "Sorry, Tavi. The little one's on my team now." He noticed Savina. "I don't suppose my much-admired self could get some healing over here?" he muttered, closing his eyes again. Tavi expected Savina to be stricken to the core by the Justicar's rudeness. Maybe she was. But she merely walked to Kormick's side and put her hand on his forehead. "I – I had to rest a little," she explained softly. Kormick sighed in relief as her healing powers took effect. "I know, I know," he said, his eyes still closed. "You are very kind. In Dar Und, we – well. Perhaps I am the slightest little bit out of practice with kindness. You understand?" [i]There's something you don't see every day, Pheebs[/i], Tavi thought. [i]Kormick just apologized for something. Sort of.[/i] [color="magenta"]Just because it's unusual doesn't make it exciting.[/color] [i]Look, go dive-bomb Whisper or something.[/i] [color="magenta"]Okay![/color] The hummingbird took off across the room, then swooped back, then vanished into the hall, and then was back. [color="magenta"]Where’s Whisper?[/color] "So," said Kormick, sitting up and gesturing at the fountain. "Is it too much to hope that we've arrived at the famous spring?" "I don't think that's it," said Savina. "Because, for the record, I am very much hoping that we've arrived at the famous spring and now we can all relax and sleep for twenty years." Savina walked over, put her hand into the water, and shook her head. "This water doesn't feel holy to me." "But this place is obviously an Alirrian chapel," said Rose. "It must be the monastery from my mother's stories." "The Honored Mother in Lord's Edge mentioned a monastery that he and the other Inquisitors attacked," said Savina, "but I thought it was in the city of Cauldron." "There are hot baths in Cauldron," murmured Nyoko, more to herself than anyone else. Acorn suddenly popped his head up out of Twiggy’s dress and looked with starving intensity at Nyoko. Twiggy stroked his head reassuringly as she joined in the conversation. "The monks retreated to Cauldron after an earlier attack, I think," said Twiggy. "But I'm pretty sure Dona Giovanna said they used to live closer to the spring. Do you remember, Rose?" "You've got it right. Mother spoke about an old monastery about five or six days away from the spring." "If this is it, then I bet there's a path from here," Twiggy concluded triumphantly. "We're close!" "Five or six days is not 'close,'" said Kormick. "Not in the Ketkath." Whisper glided in through the doorway and swept silently to Rose's shoulder. Phoebe immediately launched an attack on the pseudodragon. [i]Phoebe![/i] [color="magenta"]You told me to![/color] [i]True enough. Carry on.[/i] [color="magenta"]Hey![/color] Phoebe chirped in outrage as Rose swatted her away and rolled her eyes at Tavi. Tavi shrugged with pretend innocence. "Whisper has news if you'll condescend to let him tell me about it, brother Octavian," Rose announced with faux-haughtiness. Tavi gave her an exaggerated bow. "At your service." Rose parodied a quick curtsy, but then the twinkle went out of her eye as Whisper silently spoke to her. "Whisper says that one derro sneaked away at the end of the fight with Lurx," she explained. "He went into that tunnel we saw branching off to one side, halfway down the crevice. Whisper followed him for some time, but it's a very long tunnel." "He's almost certainly gone to seek reinforcements," spoke up Nyoko. "That tunnel leads back to the main derro warren." "[i]This[/i] isn't the main one?" demanded Mena. Nyoko shook her head, and Mena groaned in annoyance. "They brought me here through that tunnel," Nyoko continued. "It's six miles long. It took us about five hours to traverse it – we can assume that the derro reinforcements will make better speed than chained slaves. To be safe, in fact, we should assume that a renewed force of derro will arrive here in about eight hours." Silence fell. An exhausted silence. They weren't done yet. Mena sighed. "Then our goal is simple. We must leave this hateful place far behind us before then, which I suspect we're all eager to do anyway. Let's keep moving." "Dame Mena has it right," agreed Kormick. "Slave, that unobtrusive little door in the back wall requires your attention." Tavi looked around for Arden. She was standing near the hallway, not paying attention. "Slave," said Kormick. "The door." She looked up, startled, and then flashed an apologetic smile. "Yes, Justicar," she said, and crossed the room. There was a [i]click[/i] as Arden opened the small door. They all stayed silent as she put an eye to the crack in the door, then opened it a little wider. Suddenly she withdrew her head and gingerly, using both hands, closed the door. She turned around, looking paler than usual. "Please you, it's a hallway," she said softly. "And it's lined with corpses. Four high on each side, on shelves cut into the stone. The corpses look like – " She looked at the dead zombies. "They look like them. And some of the shelves are empty." "Soooo," said Kormick. "We would not want to enter that hallway and, let us say, wake anyone else up." Arden nodded fervently. Tavi looked at the group. They were all looking at each other, every face saying in its own way what Kormick had said aloud. Rose seemed to hold her breath as she looked down, concern showing clearly on her face. "Then," said Tavi, "let's see where the tunnel [i]outside[/i] the entrance to this room ends up." [/QUOTE]
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A Rose In The Wind: A Saga of the Halmae -- Updated June 19, 2014
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