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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 600809" data-attributes="member: 143">Book VII, Part 31The following morning, things continued to happen quickly for the now-five companions.  They rested throughout the remainder of the day and the night that followed, sleeping in shifts and preparing a hot but sparse evening meal from their stores.  Even going outside the circle of stones briefly to recover some of the plentiful deadwood from the scarred and blackened trees was unnerving, and Lariel and Lok returned speaking of shadows moving through the dead forest, and unseen eyes that seemed to track their progress.  With that grim news, they ate their meal silently and quickly, and returned to their bedrolls as the night fell around them.  Nothing emerged out of the dark to threaten them, however, and the morning dawned with a welcome brightness, as the grim clouds above finally broken enough to reveal a clear sky high above.  The clear dawn did not banish the sharp chill of morning in the forest, but at least it cheered their spirits somewhat after the darkness through which they had all passed.  For some of them, that darkness would linger for a time, but they all took solace in their friendship and shared purpose.  While the spellcasters attended to their prayers or spellbooks, Lariel sat with Lok by their fire.  They’d laid in an extra supply the previous night, so they did not have to venture out to secure more fuel.  The elf opened his cloak and withdrew a small silver pin attached to his shirt, laying it on a flat stone between them.  “While I have kept this hidden before now, I feel that there is no need for secrets between us now, given what we have shared.  The pins we Harpers wear carry an enchantment that protects us from detection by those with prying magical eyes.  Every fifth morning, as the sun rises, I remove it for an hour, so that my superiors may make contact, to make a report and learn if there is important news to be related.”Lok nodded, seeing the advantage of such a system.  Suddenly Lariel straightened.  Cal, apparently, felt it too, for he looked up from his spellbook, scanning the area around them.  Lok shook his head—he felt nothing.But all of them could hear the voice, the whisper that sounded as if someone were at their shoulders speaking into their ear.  A woman’s voice, soft and gentle.“Greetings, Lariel.  It is good to see you once more, for my thoughts have often visited you of late, with great concern.  I see you have found new companions, and I have included them in my spell, for their faces are known to me, the faces of friends who have already done great deeds in the struggles against Evil in the West.  I fear I must bring sad tidings of events, but first, speak quickly of what you have found, for time grows short for all of us.”“I must share my own tale of woe, Cylyria,” Lariel replied.  His mouth barely moved, forming a soundless whisper, but they could hear the words over the connection that the Harper leader had created through her scrying.  “We reached the core of the Reaching Woods, and found that the source of the evil here was nothing less than a foul dracolich, a transformed green, a fairly young specimen but deadly nonetheless.” A few of the companions exchanged a look—if their adversary had been “fairly young,” what might an older version have done?  Even Lok paled a bit at the thought.  Lariel continued, his face drawing tight with emotion, sadness and anger mixing in his words.  “Gorath fell in battle with the creature, and I fear his body is too ravaged for a raise dead to be effective.”  Dana had tried, praying for the intervention of Selûne with the coming of the new day, but the half-orc ranger had been too far gone, his body too ravaged by the dragon’s deadly breath and rending teeth to restore his spirit to it.  “We made contact with one of the surviving druids of the Woods, and through him the spirits of those that were slain by the dracolich.  The Woods will be cleansed of the evil that has infested it, but I fear that our old foe, the Cult of the Dragon, have done a great deal of damage that cannot soon be mended.”  At those words the elf’s normally smooth features twisted briefly into a mask of rage, and his grip on the bow at his side tightened noticeably.  There was a pause, and then Cylyria’s voice came to them once more through the link.  “You have all done well, all of you, and my sorrow joins with yours at the loss you have suffered.  But I am afraid that the Cult will have to wait, for darker days have settled upon us in your absence.”The companions exchanged another look, guessing at what foul news now awaited.  Cylyria did not leave them waiting long, and with a tired sigh told them.  “Three days ago, a potent force of hobgoblins, trolls, and hill giants wearing the symbol of Bane descended from the Far Hills into Sunset Vale.  With them came a dark monstrosity brought from the Abyss, a powerful demon.  These forces fell upon Asbravn in the night, and razed the town, putting to the sword those not lucky enough to flee the carnage.”The crackling of the fire was the only sound, as the companions stared at each other in stunned silence.   “So now what do we do?” Benzan finally asked.</blockquote>

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