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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 1508556" data-attributes="member: 143">What can I say, the crowd wants blood.  At least this time he wasn't a cleric of Helm... * * * * * Chapter 132“Hold on, Zenna.  We’re almost back to Cauldron, just hold on.”Mole thought she saw a flicker of movement on her friend’s face, and leaned in worriedly.  Zenna looked terrible.  Her face was an ugly landscape of red lumps and mottled splotches, and her skin had sunk inward until it seemed to barely hang upon her skull.  Her breath rattled in her throat like an animal in a trap, clawing its way free.  The gnome knew that Arun had done all that he could, channeling divine power into her each day, even though only a dribble made it through the mummy’s curse that ensnared her.  She looked over at Arun.  The paladin sat slumped, his face lowered, his body heaving as he sucked in one tired breath after another.  Arun had been inexhaustible, but it was clear that even he was approaching his limit.  Every day he had called his ally, the celestial lizard that Mole had stylized Clinger, to bear Zenna and the wrapped body of Hodge.  The lizard remained with them for the better part of the day, but even after it returned to its celestial abode, to await the next calling, they pressed on, with Dannel and their captive carrying Zenna on a stretcher while Arun bore alone the considerable weight of Hodge.  They had all felt the inexorable press of time, each hour bringing Zenna that much closer to death.  Their food had been whatever roots and greenery Dannel was able to find and pronounce safe; their rest was a few hours grabbed here or there in the middle of the trail.  At least Crazy Jared had been able to provision them with some meat and vegetables, which had given them some added strength, for as long as it had lasted.  Mole’s stomach grumbled at the memory. Her feet throbbed in her boots, but she knew better than to take them off.  She unslung her water bottle, and tried to get Zenna to swallow a few drops.  It was a mostly futile gesture.A faint rustle along the trail indicated the return of Dannel.  The elf looked as worn down as the rest of them, but an almost frightening determination gleamed in his eyes.  “The trail ahead is clear,” he told them.  “We have to keep moving.”Mole shot a covert glance at Arun, who had not responded.  “It’ll be dark in an hour,” she said, “and with the skies this overcast, even our eyes won’t be able to see.”Dannel nodded wearily.  “I know, but we have to get as far as we can before the full depth of the night,” he told her.  “We’re still at least two days out from Cauldron, and...”He didn’t have to finish.  Looking down at Zenna, she understood what he meant.Dannel looked over at Arun.  “We may have to leave him, Arun.  We can secure the body somewhere safe, come back for him after...”  Arun pulled himself up with a clear effort.  He wore only a half-shirt of light chain links over a fragmented tunic and faded breeches, the whole overlaid with a woolen overcloak that was more holes than cloth.  He’d discarded his magical armor almost casually once it had become clear that they would have to carry Hodge’s body back to Cauldron.  At Mole’s insistence they had packed the armor was well as the captured mithral plate formerly worn by Margh-Michto; she’d wrapped both in cloth and they placed the bundle upon Clinger’s harness before the lizard was dismissed each day.  Mole rose as well, and walked over to where Zenith sat. The former dwarven hero had been her charge since they had departed Bhal-Hamatugn.  Drawn back from the brink of death by their healing skill—although Arun had refused to use his healing powers upon him—Zenith had been quiescent since their initial battle.  The dwarf accepted all commands mutely, moving when prodded and continuing until halted.  He had not spoken a word since the battle, and had not made a threatening gesture even when confronted with Arun’s anger.  Faced with the demands of practicality they’d used him as their pack mule, carrying the stretcher holding Zenna when Clinger was not available, bearing Arun’s packed armor when the lizard was present.  The dwarf paladin crossed to where Hodge’s body lay.  They’d wrapped the fallen dwarf as best they could, but a strong odor hung about the body nonetheless.  “Arun...”“Raise dead only works within a set period of time,” the paladin said, without lifting his eyes from preparing the corpse for travel.  At least let Zenith carry him for a time,” Mole suggested.  “Dannel and I can manage Zenna’s stretcher.”“That one is not touching him,” Arun said.  His feet scuffing on the assorted rocks that littered the trail, he moved to the front rank.  “Let’s go.”They marched until well into the night, until it was so dark that Dannel and Mole stumbled with every second step.  Finally even Arun was finished, collapsing on the side of the trail, Hodge’s body falling in a heap.  They rested there, husbanding their strength for the next day’s hard march.  They resumed their journey before dawn, and by the time that the sky had brightened enough beneath the gray pall to clearly distinguish the trail, they had already covered the better part of a mile over the rough terrain.  It was clear that the sun was not going to break the clouds for yet another day, although at least it wasn’t raining or snowing.  At midmorning they paused briefly and Arun called upon his mount.  Quickly they conducted the now-familiar daily ritual of swapping out their burdens.  Zenna’s condition was such that even the gentle rolling of the lizard’s motion might be too much for her, so Dannel insisted on carrying her on the stretcher, Arun taking the rear of the pallet after he’d lashed Hodge to Clinger’s back.  The lizard obeyed without complaint, and soon they were moving again, making the best time they could over the difficult terrain. They were tired, and focused on their burdens, so perhaps it was understandable that they didn’t notice the danger until it was too late.</blockquote>

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