Liriel watched the horror inside the warehouse unfold and completely ignored the brightening eastern sky. She was rooted to the spot, unable to intervene or flee.
Inside and shrouded in darkness, the creature that was once an unassuming cleric took its time. Its prey had been served up, trussed and bound, seemingly for its amusement. First, it slowly approached him with the gait of a hunter that knew its quarry was trapped. It reached out with one long, flaming claw and pressed the digit between his collar and shoulder. Garven began hyperventilating in fear, but that quickly dissolved into muffled begging. The creature ignored him and continued to slowly press inward, sinking the talon into his chest with agonizing cruelty. The slaver's begging exploded into gagged screams again and Shadow-Eya's unnaturally wide mouth grinned.
What followed was the longest ten minutes of Liriel's life; a life already steeped in the darker traditions of society. She watched impotently, a party to the brutality she could neither stop nor turn away from. The creature wasn't interrogating him, it asked no questions. He may have even tried to give up the information, but the rogue couldn't tell because his gag remained in place. This was torture, plain and simple.
It used some form of magic to sap the strength from his limbs, leaving his right arm atrophied, misshapen, and blackened. It dragged flaming claws across his body in long, slow streaks that opened bleeding gashes as cleanly as the sharpest knife could manage. It circled him, letting him marinate in fear and pain, coming up from behind to let him imagine its slavering jaws at the nape of his neck. It leaned in and whispered words into his ear that left him screaming in terror and thrashing at his bonds.
Finally, after what felt like a lifetime had passed, the monster stood up and stalked in front of Garven again. His breath was thin and wheezy, his posture was slumped, and a pitiful, reedy whining leaked from his throat periodically. It stared down at the broken man and seemed to almost hesitate for a moment before the black flames were suddenly doused. Eya stood there once more, and Liriel gaped at her.
The cleric was drenched in sweat and her once-vibrant red hair hung limply about her face. She was pale and unsteady on her feet. Eya took one tottering step toward the captive before she collapsed to her hands and knees. Liriel saw her body clench and fight down the urge to retch once, then again, and finally a third time. She crawled on all fours toward Garven and pulled herself up by his knees to look him in the face.
"Please," she hoarsely croaked, "please tell me what I need to know." She choked back a sob. "Please don't make me do that again..."
Garven broke down sobbing and Eya pulled the gag out of his mouth. He began whispering to her through his tears and obvious pain. Eya's shoulders slumped in quiet relief as he spoke in words that Liriel could not make out. She nodded along until she thanked him and stood up again. Eya wiped her eyes and unsteadily walked back to the table.
The cleric methodically dressed herself, taking her time and moving as though her entire body was stiff and sore. She then turned back to Garven and walked over to him while leaning heavily on her quarterstaff. She placed a hand on his shoulder, which caused him to wince and pull away. Instead of harming him though, she closed her eyes and strained. Gentle, golden light flickered under her palm, and the worst of his wounds knitted together again. Although she only partially mitigated the damage, this act caused her to grip her staff even tighter and lean on it more heavily.
She caught her breath and stood upright again. Her posture was straight and taut, but she was visibly struggling to maintain this rigidity. He looked up at her pitifully, the once-cocky criminal now thoroughly laid low. Eya's lower lip quivered briefly before her expression contorted in anger. She reeled back and slapped him across the face, drawing a muffled gasp from the hidden rogue.
"Don't be in town tomorrow." She coldly commanded him, but her icy mask soon broke with another choked sob. Still relying on her quarterstaff, Eya turned away toward the exit but only made it three steps. She doubled over and vomited forcefully onto the floor. Struggling to remain on her feet, she maintained a white-knuckle grip on her staff with one hand and held a trembling fistful of her own hair back in the other. Her body was wracked with spasms, over and over again until there was nothing left to come up. Even then, she was forced to endure several more dry heaves before she was able to stand up again.
Liriel dashed for the back of the building and rounded the corner just before Eya emerged into the predawn light. The rogue was now on high alert, and briefly debated going in to finish off Garven. Her hesitation ended when Eya rounded the far corner and set off toward the city. She needed to know what came next and followed her quarry back down the wharf at a suitably cautious distance.
With the open environment of the boardwalk, Liriel had to remain further back than she usually would like. She also had to skulk from shadow to shadow along the shops that lined the wharf, but she was good at what she did and Eya did not appear to notice that she was being tailed. If anything, she seemed preoccupied and oblivious to her surroundings.
"Well, a little torture will do that to you." Liriel muttered to herself. "Gotta take a quick nap before you go pull the wings off some butterflies later? What's the play now, Poison Prin-" She abruptly stopped her sarcastic musing. The morning breeze had shifted just enough to put her downwind of the cleric.
Her sharp senses caught the sound of sniffling and sobbing. Liriel nearly tripped over a bucket at the revelation. The otherworldly horror that had just abused and broken a hardened slaver was crying? The rogue realized why Eya's gait looked so stiff and distracted. She was holding herself tightly, wracked with grief, but still walking forward. A cold, unfamiliar, and unwelcome feeling curled its way into Liriel's guts. She'd returned to spy on the cleric for answers, but she was more adrift than ever now. Who the hells had they hired?
When Eya began ascending the winding path up to the gate, Liriel was able to move in a little closer thanks to the scrub brush that lined the way. Eya was still sniffling, but the worst of it had passed by the time she began the ascent. She was still huddled over and looked smaller than the boisterous woman who had been standing tall on a table at the seediest of dives only a few hours ago. Her tail was close enough to hear the guard at the top notice her.
"Had a good night Sist- What's wrong? What happened?" Eya looked up and shook her head. She waved her hand at the guard.
"Nothing Mara. I'm fine. I'm a little drunk, I guess." Her lies were still utterly unconvincing though.
"You don't look fine, Sister. Was it that dwarf? We just saw him leaving with some others, you want us to go track him down? You didn't go into Brennan's place did you?" Eya shook her head through the entire round of questioning. Liriel squatted next to a clump of tall grass and waited.
"No, no Mara. He's a complete gentleman, I promise. It's me, you know what a mess I am." She laughed quietly, trying to play it off. Unlike her attempt at a lie, this excuse sounded like she believed it. The other woman sighed and patted her arm.
"Get some rest Sister." Eya said her farewells and walked off. Liriel could see she was headed toward the Ebontide Lodge again and decided to wait where she was. She'd been spotted going in with the cleric earlier and didn't want to appear to be overtly tailing her now. As the sky began to brighten and presage the appearance of the sun, she saw an opening.
Two more guards arrived to relieve the night's watch. She listened to them brief their replacements and emerged onto the path when they weren't looking. As she walked up, the one she remembered as 'Mara' turned to face her.
"Good morning." The guard said, appraising the rogue with a practiced eye. Liriel decided on a soft approach here. She waved at the guard and kept her hands nonchalantly visible to them. Her usual scowl dissolved into a practiced smile.
"Morning!" She cheerfully answered. "Love your wharf, it's been ages since I could shut a place down like that." All four guards considered her briefly. The others decided she wasn't worth any attention but Mara kept looking at her.
"Weren't you with Sister Alia and that dwarf before?" She asked. Liriel chuckled and gestured dismissively.
"That was me. Sharing a guy isn't my idea of a good time, I split a while ago. Alia's a trip though, yeah? Between you and me, I think my boss is getting a little tired of her. I've tried telling him we should keep her around but he doesn't like wild cards. Wish I knew how to convince him, she seems fun." She put her hands on her hips and looked around the intersection outside the gate. "Where's a good spot for a little hair of the dog? Every town I've ever been to, the guards always know the best places. Help me out?"
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Mara considered the half-elf for a moment, then took off her helmet and ruffled her short, dark hair. After another moment's thought, she gestured back toward the city center. "We usually get a drink after shift. Come on, I've got some stories that'll convince your boss to keep the good Sister around."
"Hells yes, appreciate it. Oh, please tell me this place has coffee too?"
â¢â¢â¢
Eya stood in the street outside of the Ebontide Lodge. She had been there for at least five minutes, just staring at the red entry door. She hated that door, truth be told. Always had.
The tarred and weathered walls of the lodge stood out as unique to her; a promise of comforting solitude and safety. That damn red door just...broke it all up. She wanted it to match the building. When the sun broke the horizon, blaring its bright light into her eyes, she realized just how long she'd been standing there and stalling. Her battered senses were then shocked back into the forefront by a burst of insufferable giggling to her left. She watched as a group of young women walked past, headed to the city center for the opening of the shops. Their dresses and smiles were as bright as the intrusive morning sun. They were human and couldn't have been any older than she, but they felt like an entirely different species to her in that moment. When they spotted the bedraggled cleric, they turned their heads and quickly looked away. She grimaced and turned her head as well until the dark shame in her heart passed.
Eya wiped her eyes and ran her hands through her hair, trying to restore some of its body. Deep down she knew it was futile though, she felt like she'd been dragged there by a team of horses. With one last swipe at her red-rimmed eyes, she plastered a smile on her face and marched inside.
It was easy to find her employers, they were some of the only people awake at this hour. Sitting about the same table they had claimed yesterday morning, they stood out among the other groggy travelers. Eya noted that there were only three of them though, Liriel was missing. Theron spotted her first and waved her over.
"Oh lass, we weren't expecting ya this fast. Everything alright? I dinnae mean to sound crass but yer lookin' a little...err, rough around the edges." Eya settled into the same seat she had occupied eighteen short hours ago. Eighteen hours that felt like they could have been eighteen years. She forced herself to sit up straight but quickly realized that she needed to lean her elbows on the table to keep her head from swimming too much.
"Yeah, yeah...I'm fine. Just a little under the weather I guess. Two straight days of going non-stop is catching up to me." She glanced about the table. "What's...what's the plan? Where's Liriel?" Kael looked concerned and sat up.
"We were hoping you'd be able to tell us the plan. Did you get what we needed?" He chose his words carefully to avoid discussing anything sensitive in the open. Eya looked at him in confusion for a moment, her brows furrowed together in thought. She suddenly snapped awake again and shook her head.
"Oh! Yes, sorry. Sunset, tomorrow at the last eastern berth. They're coming through in a wagon and loading up so they can slip out immediately after the sun goes down. New moon tomorrow night, you know." Kael was astonished and looked between his equally surprised teammates.
"I'm not going to lie...that's incredibly impressive. I didn't think he was ever going to break." His tone lowered and took on a thick timbre of concern. "Were you able to-" he sighed, "to dispose of him?" The cleric looked confused for another beat. It was becoming obvious that her sharp mind was lagging behind the reality of their situation.
"No." She said simply, but recognized their worried reactions. "No, I mean I didn't need to. He's leaving the city today." The three companions were stunned. Finally, Theron leaned over into her line of sight.
"H- How?" He asked, struggling to elaborate but finding their were too many questions that fell under that one word. She looked at him warmly and smiled a tired, sad smile. She shrugged and began picking at a scratch in the table with her nail.
"You just need to find what they care about and use that." She said, cryptically. Elara leaned in now, sensing a pain and loathing that she couldn't identify but did recognize. She placed one hand on the cleric's restlessly fidgeting arm.
"Are you okay? Really? I can't imagine what it took to face down that much...vileness. To do what needed to be done. I'm glad it paid off but..." Eya shrugged off her concern.
"I'm fine, really. I got lucky, I guess." She repeated herself. "So come on, what's the plan?" Elara sat back and looked to the others. They all wore the same doubts on their faces, but seemed reluctant to press further just yet.
"I think we'll lay low here until tomorrow night." Kael spoke, but leaned in secretively. "We should try to stay in our rooms as much as possible. No doubt they've got people out looking for us, even if they don't know who we are yet. Yes/no?" He looked around the table, but there were no objections. In the silence that followed, their breakfast was delivered. Kael, Elara, and Theron each received a plate of baked fish cakes, a few strips of bacon, roasted parsnip, a roll of local seaweed-infused bread, and a mug of cider. The wizard spoke apologetically as he gazed at the meal.
"Sorry there, Red. We thought ya'd be longer. Yer welcome to some of mine..." He looked up at Eya but her face was a mask of disgust. Elara heard the cleric's stomach twist from across the table and saw her convulse. Eya closed her eyes and put a hand to her mouth. She shook her head and looked back to Theron with a weak smile after she composed herself.
"Thank you, no. If it's alright I think I'll go-" her stomach heaved again and she groaned, "go get some rest." They all nodded understandingly. Theron and Kael rose from their seats as Eya stood up. She looked at them with confusion, but didn't have the energy to enquire and nodded her goodbyes instead. They sat back down and picked at their plates.
"Anyone else getting a bad feeling?" Kael asked while he tore a fishcake in half. Elara nodded along and drank her cider.
"Something's definitely not adding up." She said as she set her mug down. "And what's bothering me is I can't even guess what piece is missing. How about you?" She looked to Theron, but he seemed to be watching something over her shoulder.
"Hang on." He held up a finger and continued watching. From his seat, he could see Eya at the bar having a heated discussion with Cora. They were keeping their voices down, but it was obviously a strained conversation. Eya finally slapped down a handful of gold coins and waited while Cora left. "Liriel paid her up through tomorrow, right?" Theron asked the table. The others nodded to him.
"That's what I remember, why?" Kael knew better than to draw attention by turning to look at whatever had Theron engaged. The dwarf put up his finger again to tell them to wait. The Ebontide's proprietor returned and thumped down a small wooden bowl containing a pile of white granules and a bottle of something dark. Theron guessed it was some kind of fortified wine by the rounded and wicker-woven bottom. Eya took both of them in a huff and made for the stairwell. She pulled the bottle's cork out with her teeth, spat it off to her left, and took a long drink as she climbed the stairs.
"Aye..." Theron said, "gettin' a real bad feelin'." He tore off a piece of bread with his teeth and put the roll down, chewing deep in thought. He then reached into one of his pouches and pulled out the length of fine, copper wire. "Oi, Daggers." He spoke into his hand again. "What's the holdup? Want us to get breakfast ready for ya?"
They all waited and Theron grew more and more tense as the silence continued. "Maybe she can't talk op-" He stopped and cocked his head. After a few more seconds he grinned and nodded. "She says she'll be by in an hour." He flagged down Cora and ordered another plate to come out later.
When Liriel arrived after the promised interval, she slumped down in her previous seat as well, another creature of habit. Her breakfast arrived shortly after and she tucked into it without a word. The others all stared at her until she perked up and looked at them.
"Well?! Did you find anything?" Theron nearly shouted. Liriel chewed on a mouthful of parsnip and shook her head. She was stalling and reviewing the morning in her head.
The guards had been chatty enough, but she didn't learn anything earth shattering. 'Alia' was a mixed bag. Nearly every guard had gone to her for minor ailments like bunions and strained backs, even severe wounds in the line of duty. She sells her medicine at cost or just above but they all try to 'tip' her anyway, knowing that the money goes right back to the temple and orphanage in the Copper Bowl. She'd probably be a local hero if every guard didn't also have a story about dragging her out of a bar brawl, seeing her wade into a street fight, or listening to complaints about her 'teaching manners' through blunt force trauma and the occasional stabbing.
Left with nothing incriminating, Liriel had run back to the docks to find Garven, but the slaver was gone. She sighed into her cider and took a long drink. What was she supposed to tell them? Oh hey, that sweet little redhead that you want to carry around in your pocket? The one I've been giving a hard time? Yeah, I saw her give a mercenary a concussion, pull an assassin's blade on a wanna-be pirate captain, and transform into an eldritch nightmare so she could torture a slaver into pissing himself and giving up everything we needed. Too bad none of you saw any of it but I'm telling you the truth, swearsy-realsy. Hells, they probably all bought into that 'potion of sleepiness' crap too, even if just a little.
"Liriel?" Elara interrupted her stewing. She scanned the table and shook her head once more.
"Nothing." She said, irritation dripping from her single word. Liriel then adjusted her seat to lean over her plate better and kicked something under the table. Bending over to look at it, she retrieved a long wooden pole.
"Huh." Theron commented. "Eya must've left that." The rogue looked him over.
"So she did come back?" She asked. Kael finished his cider, wiped his mouth and set his napkin back down.
"Yeah, she went to bed already. She got what we needed, we make our move tomorrow night at dusk. I just hope she's up for it, she was looking pretty rough." Liriel shook her head.
"I'll bet she was." Liriel muttered and picked up a strip of bacon. She was surprised to find that, rather than three or four strips, it was one long ribbon. Elara noticed her eyeballing her own breakfast suspiciously.
"Where do they even get bacon like that?" She chuckled. Liriel shrugged and bit into it.
"Search me. Maybe there's a store? This town is weird enough. It's good though."