Lazybones
Adventurer
Book VI, Part 3
“You’re lucky that I didn’t unleash a spell upon you—I’ve got some new ones in my repertoire now, you know.”
“Ah, like a fireball, perhaps?” It was intended as a joke, since both men knew that Cal’s specialty was illusion, a focus that precluded the study of evocation spells like the fireball. But the joke fell flat, and both of them knew why, even though they didn’t put it into words.
“It’s fortuitous that you should drop by today,” Cal said. “If you’d come tomorrow, you’d have found only a vacant house.”
“Oh?” Benzan replied, sipping his tea. The two of them were seated in Cal’s living room, a small but comfortable space that adjoined the even smaller kitchen and the workroom. “Going on a trip?”
“Of a sorts. We can speak of that in a moment, but first, where’s Dana?”
Benzan shifted, and Cal could see that the simple question had made his friend uncomfortable. Suddenly the bottom of his mug seemed to have gotten very interesting, as the tiefling fixed his attention upon that spot. Cal just waited, not pushing the matter.
“We parted ways about two months ago,” he finally explained. “South of Waterdeep, actually, near Daggerford. She... she said that she needed some time, wanted to meet with some high-ups from the church of Selûne that had an outpost or monastery or something in the region. I would have gone with her, but... well, even before then, there had been something brewing between us, that same old thing...”
He looked up at Cal, as if seeking a shared understanding, and the gnome nodded. Cal understood, still had the dreams—the nightmares—of what he’d seen that day in the depths of Caer Dulthain. The uncertainty, the “what ifs” had been worse, and had not lost their ability to twist daggers of possibility into his thoughts even with the passage of months since then.
“She needs answers.”
“We all do,” Cal said reflexively.
Benzan nodded. “Anyway, she went off to see her friends, and I went down to see the priestess of Tymora, like we’d promised. We spent almost a whole day, talking... she said I’d changed a lot since she’d last seen us.”
We all have, Cal thought, but he didn’t say anything.
“I’d planned on spending some time in Baldur’s Gate, but there didn’t seem to be anything for me there. Two days after I got there, I booked passage on a ship back up the Sword Coast, and by the time I’d gotten back to Waterdeep, I’d pretty much decided to come back here.”
“I’m glad you did,” Cal said, and his smile was full of genuine warmth. For all that had happened in the short time since he’d awakened that morning, the twin arrivals that had come to shake up the life he’d crafted here in the last months, he felt more alive than he had since he’d come here, since he’d parted with his friends.
“Any word from Lok?” Benzan asked.
“No, nothing. I expect he’s been busy rebuilding the urdunnir settlement—there was a lot of work to be done, and those people really needed a leader.”
“Maybe we can get up and see him again. Don’t tell him I said so, but I miss the lug.”
“So do I.”
Benzan drained the last of his tea and placed the mug on the small table beside his chair. “So, what’s this about a trip?”
Cal took the two scrolls out of the pocket of his robe, holding them in his hand for a moment before he looked up at his friend.
“Well, I got this message this morning, through an unusual messenger...”
* * * * *
One scant hour later, Benzan and Cal stood together in the center of his workroom. The place was a bit untidy, as a number of things had been hastily moved in the last hour. Both adventurers looked ready to travel, their gear and weapons and magical items all in their accustomed places about their persons. Cal had spoken briefly with his landlord, and left hasty messages for some of his friends in Silverymoon.
The gnome glanced at the worktable, where the wand of invisibility rested in its cradle, unfinished.
Oh well, that would have to wait.
Cal looked up at his friend. “Ready?”
Benzan nodded, then cracked a smile. “It’s good to be back,” he said.
Cal nodded, and unrolled the second scroll, the one with the teleport scroll. He read its contents, the difficult arcane phrases rolling off his tongue.
The two men shimmered for a moment, and then disappeared.
“You’re lucky that I didn’t unleash a spell upon you—I’ve got some new ones in my repertoire now, you know.”
“Ah, like a fireball, perhaps?” It was intended as a joke, since both men knew that Cal’s specialty was illusion, a focus that precluded the study of evocation spells like the fireball. But the joke fell flat, and both of them knew why, even though they didn’t put it into words.
“It’s fortuitous that you should drop by today,” Cal said. “If you’d come tomorrow, you’d have found only a vacant house.”
“Oh?” Benzan replied, sipping his tea. The two of them were seated in Cal’s living room, a small but comfortable space that adjoined the even smaller kitchen and the workroom. “Going on a trip?”
“Of a sorts. We can speak of that in a moment, but first, where’s Dana?”
Benzan shifted, and Cal could see that the simple question had made his friend uncomfortable. Suddenly the bottom of his mug seemed to have gotten very interesting, as the tiefling fixed his attention upon that spot. Cal just waited, not pushing the matter.
“We parted ways about two months ago,” he finally explained. “South of Waterdeep, actually, near Daggerford. She... she said that she needed some time, wanted to meet with some high-ups from the church of Selûne that had an outpost or monastery or something in the region. I would have gone with her, but... well, even before then, there had been something brewing between us, that same old thing...”
He looked up at Cal, as if seeking a shared understanding, and the gnome nodded. Cal understood, still had the dreams—the nightmares—of what he’d seen that day in the depths of Caer Dulthain. The uncertainty, the “what ifs” had been worse, and had not lost their ability to twist daggers of possibility into his thoughts even with the passage of months since then.
“She needs answers.”
“We all do,” Cal said reflexively.
Benzan nodded. “Anyway, she went off to see her friends, and I went down to see the priestess of Tymora, like we’d promised. We spent almost a whole day, talking... she said I’d changed a lot since she’d last seen us.”
We all have, Cal thought, but he didn’t say anything.
“I’d planned on spending some time in Baldur’s Gate, but there didn’t seem to be anything for me there. Two days after I got there, I booked passage on a ship back up the Sword Coast, and by the time I’d gotten back to Waterdeep, I’d pretty much decided to come back here.”
“I’m glad you did,” Cal said, and his smile was full of genuine warmth. For all that had happened in the short time since he’d awakened that morning, the twin arrivals that had come to shake up the life he’d crafted here in the last months, he felt more alive than he had since he’d come here, since he’d parted with his friends.
“Any word from Lok?” Benzan asked.
“No, nothing. I expect he’s been busy rebuilding the urdunnir settlement—there was a lot of work to be done, and those people really needed a leader.”
“Maybe we can get up and see him again. Don’t tell him I said so, but I miss the lug.”
“So do I.”
Benzan drained the last of his tea and placed the mug on the small table beside his chair. “So, what’s this about a trip?”
Cal took the two scrolls out of the pocket of his robe, holding them in his hand for a moment before he looked up at his friend.
“Well, I got this message this morning, through an unusual messenger...”
* * * * *
One scant hour later, Benzan and Cal stood together in the center of his workroom. The place was a bit untidy, as a number of things had been hastily moved in the last hour. Both adventurers looked ready to travel, their gear and weapons and magical items all in their accustomed places about their persons. Cal had spoken briefly with his landlord, and left hasty messages for some of his friends in Silverymoon.
The gnome glanced at the worktable, where the wand of invisibility rested in its cradle, unfinished.
Oh well, that would have to wait.
Cal looked up at his friend. “Ready?”
Benzan nodded, then cracked a smile. “It’s good to be back,” he said.
Cal nodded, and unrolled the second scroll, the one with the teleport scroll. He read its contents, the difficult arcane phrases rolling off his tongue.
The two men shimmered for a moment, and then disappeared.
When will Delem be back? Will he ever be back? Why couldn't you have killed one of the annoying characters, like Dana or Benzan? Why did it have to be Delemmmmmm?!
