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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 185258" data-attributes="member: 143">Book IV, Part 11 In the end, they decided that Cal and Delem would take the rings of warmth.  Dana’s cloak already protected her from cold, and Benzan’s unique heritage afforded him similar protection.  As he already had two magical rings in his possession, Delem in turn gave his ring of protection to Dana, bolstering her defenses.  Cal kept the stone with the rune of raise dead in his custody, and they ultimately voted to give the amulet to Lok, as their front-line fighter would likely have the most need of its power. Their strength thus reinforced, the companions returned to their quarters to take whatever rest they could before the coming day marked the start of a new journey.  Lok and Delem left to scrounge a few more last-minute items for the bag of holding, including bundles of extra arrows and crossbow bolts, while Cal returned to the temple of Moradin to acquire a few more potions of healing.     Without a specific chore to attend to, Benzan felt a little restless.  He stopped by Cal’s quarters to find that the gnome had already left, but as he was walking down the hall in the part of the fortress reserved for the infrequent guests of the dwarves, he found himself drawn to another door a short distance off.  He hesitated for a moment, his hand hanging above the door to knock.  Why did he suddenly feel nervous?  You’re being an idiot, he told himself harshly, and then he knocked deliberately on the door.“Come in,” came a voice from beyond the portal.He opened the door to see Dana sitting on the edge of her cot, threading a new set of laces onto her calf-high leather boots.  She looked up as he entered, and he couldn’t quite read the hinted feelings that quickly crossed her expression.“Hello,” he said.  “Hi.  Leave the door open, will you?”“Afraid I might try something?”If her earlier expression was ambiguous, the dry look she shot him now was anything but.  “Hardly.  It’s just… well, after a tenday down here in these tunnels, I’m feeling a bit… crowded.  I’m glad we’re leaving, if only to get out into the open air again.”“Once we get further north, you might miss the warm comforts of this place,” he pointed out.  “Like Cal said, whatever we find, we’ll deal with it,” she said.  “You sound confident.”“I suppose.  Maybe I’ve just gotten comfortable with you guys and what we’re capable of, as a group.”His aimless walking into the room had brought him to the small table adjacent to her bed.  “I never got a chance… I mean, I never thanked you for saving my life, when we were fighting that lamia.”“That’s not necessary.  We’re adventuring companions, we look out for each other.  You’d do the same for me, or any of the others—you’ve stuck your neck out a number of times, in fact, if I recall correctly.”Dana had spread her gear out on the table, and he drew a crossbow bolt out of her quiver, twirling it between his fingers.  “You know, when I was dying there… I remember looking up and seeing you.  I thought you were a celestial or something, come to claim me.”“I don’t expect a celestial would be the one to come for you,” she said idly.His brow tightened and his expression darkened, but he didn’t reply.  He half-turned from her as he slid the bolt back into the quiver, but she’d already seen the change.  “I’m sorry,” she said.  “That was… it was a thoughtless thing to say.”With an effort, he brought back his trademark grin.  “I’ve said more than a few thoughtless things in my time,” he said.  “Or so someone keeps telling me.”She laughed with him, and he came a step closer, leaning against the edge of the table as he faced her.  “I know we haven’t gotten along at times.  But, well… I’m glad you decided to come with us.  Back in Baldur’s Gate, I mean.”“Yeah, me too,” she said, and when she looked up at him this time, something flashed in her eyes.  He saw it, for when he came closer there was no resistance, no wry comment, no turning away.  She half-rose up from the edge of the bed as he started to bend…“Hello!  Hope I’m not interrupting anything…”The two friends turned toward the door, the feelings that had built up between them in past few moments evaporating at the intrusion.  Standing there in the threshold was a woman.  She was somewhere in that borderland between youthfulness and maturity, perhaps in her early thirties by the look of her, although her face wore the mark of both a hard life outdoors and the signs of other, less tangible strains.  Her hair, tied back into a functional ponytail, was jet black, as yet untouched by gray, and her eyes were a striking emerald green.  She was tall and muscular, no more than an inch short of six feet if that, her body lean and gifted with the tone that comes only with regular and sustained exercise.  Her fur-lined tunic did not fully conceal the tell-tale gleam of mail links underneath, and she carried herself with the air of one who knows how to use the weapons she carried—in this case, a heavy composite longbow and two axes, one somewhat larger than the other.  “Hello,” Dana said, a hint of uncertainty in her voice.  “Is there something we can do for you?”“If you are the ones I’m supposed to meet, then I reckon so,” she said.  “Seems like that rat bastard Koll has a little plan cooked up for a scouting mission north, and just my luck, I happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Story of my life, I suppose.”“I’m guessing you would be Jerral, then,” Benzan ventured.“Ah, so I see that wiry old tunnel worm did mention me, then,” she said.  She came forward, her stride long and confident, her grip strong when she gave Benzan a clout on the shoulder.  “That’s me, all right.  I understand you’ve been suckered into this little expedition too, and I’m going to be holding your hands while we take a little stroll into the dragon’s maw, so to speak.  Where’s the rest of your crew?”“They’re around,” Benzan said.  “We were planning on leaving tomorrow morning, with the dawn.”“The dwarven elder said that one of his men would guide us to a pass that leads in the direction we’re headed,” Dana said.“Yeah, well, that old brick would be lucky to find his way out of a closet—I’d wager he hasn’t been more than a few miles away from this place since I was crapping myself in diapers.  Don’t worry, though, I’ll steer you right.  Listen, there’s a few things I wanted to pick up before we leave, but I just wanted to come by and say hello while I was up here.  I’ll be by in the morning to collect you, so be ready to go and all.”Without pause she turned and left.  Belatedly, they realized that they hadn’t even told her their names.“Well, that was something,” Benzan finally said.  “I don’t mind having a little more muscle on this trip, especially if she can back up all the talk, but she seems a little pushy, if you ask me.”“There’s something going on underneath all that bluster,” Dana said.  “She isn’t as good at hiding it as she thinks.”A pause followed, then Benzan said, “Dana…”“I know,” she said, without turning.  “Look, we’ve got a long road ahead of us tomorrow…”He hesitated, his arm hanging in the air between them for a moment, then he let it fall.  Finally, without saying more, he turned and left, letting the door close behind him as he departed.  Dana just stood there for a long moment, and when she finally turned back toward the exit, the conflicting feelings were written clearly on her face.  Finally, almost reluctantly, she turned toward the table and started packing up her gear.</blockquote>

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