True Soul part 27: Gambles and Cookies

“And done,” the man said as he the glow of healing magic disappeared and he started to wrap the arm with bandages.

“You couldn’t heal it all the way?”  Kevos whined.

“Complain to someone who cares and be happy you didn’t lose the arm,” the man grunted.

The camp could rarely be described as peaceful but now the usual ruckus was replaced with the tension of waiting for the storm. Only three members of the party that had gone to track the Paladins for the ambush had returned, two of them wounded and all of them bruised.

“You should have waited for the rest of us,” someone complained.

“The paladin was alone. We figured we could take him on with four of us. We might have been too late if we had waited!”

“Well you figured wrong,” the boss stated. He was standing near the remains of a window that had been covered with a canvas before wind had ripped the canvas off about an hour ago, staring at the silhouette of the dormant volcano against the darkening sky.

The three survivors visibly flinched from the words, but when the boss didn’t say anything more the argumentative chatter started again.

“I thought the paladin was a she to be honest.”

“With that face?”

“I don’t care what it is I’ll fucking kill it,” cursed the woman whose nose was still red from healing. “It fucking killed Sararos. I’ll make the fucker pay.”

“You got your ass handed to you though,” a short man, who was fixing the fletching on a few of his arrows, quipped.

“Oh shut up. She just lost her lover. Show some sympathy,” Olwos said as he stepped in front of him.  The man glanced up and noted the difference in height before looking down again.

“Whatever.”

After staring down for a good few seconds longer, Olwos turned their leader. “Boss, what do we do now?”

“They’ll have to go to the Fall eventually.” He glanced over his shoulder. “It’s time we take the kid gloves off. Lehner you will wait near the village for Kevos to signal you that the Paladins have left. Kevos you will show him a good hiding place that is near enough.”

“The rest of you will stand watch near the Fall.”

All chatter had stopped and everyone was listening intently, waiting for him to tell what he was planning.

“I’ll use the spell our Patron gave me in case of emergency. We are running out of time.”

“Will that not be dangerous? From what little you told me about it, it could make our mission impossible if it goes wrong. Or kill us all if it goes really wrong.” Olwos asked nervously.
“If the Paladins send word back that they suspect cultist activity we’ll be neck deep in Paladins within two weeks. We have made next to no progress in getting past the curse-wraith in a long time. The gamble to kill them before they learned of us didn’t pay off,” the boss turned to face the others. He didn’t have to put his displeasure to words. “Now we have no choice but to try another.”

“If it works it will kill both them and the wraith.”


Nearin grimaced as she tentatively put weight on her feet. Sore muscles were something she was intensely familiar with, but that didn’t make the experience any more pleasant. When she was sure her legs wouldn’t break like twigs from her weight she started dressing.

While she did the bed continued being there, tempting her with its softness. She didn’t normally have any difficulties waking up early, but now she felt like she hadn’t slept at all. Of course she knew she had slept, but she couldn’t remember when she had actually fallen asleep. She had just been rolling in her bed and then it had suddenly been morning.

So yes, she was tired. Her eyes felt strained and it was difficult to keep them open. And she really needed to get to an outhouse, she realized as pulled on her boots.

So off she went to find said outhouse. Even with it still being rather dark in the valley, it wasn’t hard to find thanks to the smell. As she relieved herself she had to swat a few insects who hadn’t realized that the summer had passed.

As she made her way back she turned the wrong way. All the houses looked the same this early in the morning.

Don’t panic, you can’t get lost in a village this small, she told herself. Taking a deep breath she looked up at the mountains, trying to reorient herself with them.  That worked and after a few moments she turned ninety degrees and started walking in what she thought was the right direction.

“Is there something wrong with your arm?” a feminine voice from around the corner asked.

“No, why?”

“You keep touching it as if in pain.”

“No I’m not.”

“Don’t be stupid.”

Feeling like she was intruding, Nearin hastened her steps and walked past them. The woman glanced at her and nodded in greeting, but the man who had his back to her didn’t react instead he pointed to his arm.

“Okay, well it’s kind of embarrassing but I cut myself while carving.”

Nearin continued walking, but when she was out of the earshot she suddenly stopped. Then pieces locked together and she started running.

“Ma’am,” she tried to shout as soon as she saw Selesta, but managed just a croak that was bit louder than usual as her throat refused to make a sound louder than that.

“Yes, what is it?” Selesta asked. She was picking on a cookie while sitting on the bench by the door of the house they were staying at.

It took a few moments before Nearin could speak again, but her mentor waited patiently. “I think I saw one of my attackers here. He had a wound in his arm. The same arm I wounded one of them.”

Selesta sighed. “Suspected they’d have people in the village. These mountains are not easy to navigate without a guide.” She ate the cookie in silence for a moment while thinking. “Can you recognize him?”

“I didn’t see his face, ma’am. I recognized his clothing though.”

“We should be able to find him then, not many people with wounds in their arms. Let’s go ask him some questions.”

Nearin nodded. Then pointed at the small pile of cookies on the bench next to Selesta. “Can I have one?”

Selesta laughed. “Sure, but eat it before we find him. Eating cookies is not terribly intimidating.”