In the scrub brush that lined the bowl around the wharf, Elara silently sat near Theron. While her green cloak, brown hair, and general skillset gave her the ability to nearly disappear in the fading light. Theron was not so blessed, so he chose the opposite tack: He randomly fired off arcane sparkles, flares, and orbs of all colors above the boardwalk. He was a one-dwarf show, just the way he liked it. Somewhere among the bustling crowd below, Liriel was fantasizing about twisting his head off.
Near her, Eya and Kael slowly orbited their intercept point, blending with the outer edge of the market crowd. She had left her staff in his room but kept her satchel with her. The cleric picked at a seafood skewer and her partner slowly worked on a little paper pouch of salted seaweed chips. To any outside observer, it just looked like a handsome stranger was escorting their local ball of chaos, Sister Alia, on a sunset stroll.
"Why am I getting the stink-eye from half of this wharf?" He asked her while they wandered close to the water. Eya shrugged and perched herself on a bollard near the edge.
"Search me." She pulled a pepper off the skewer with her teeth and talked through the crunching. "You're new in town?" She then chuckled to herself as she swallowed. "Although, that water genasi girl who sold you those chips? She was giving me a dirty look, now that I think about it."
"Did you do something to earn that look?" He asked, popping a chip into his mouth with a smirk.
"No!" She indignantly replied. After a moment's consideration, she used the point of the skewer to try to clear something in her teeth. "Well, maybe. There's no way she's still sore about that though, it was just this one time." He chuckled and they sat in silence for a few minutes, just scanning the crowd and watching the gate at the top of the path. "So...", she pulled a shrimp off and popped it in her mouth, "can I ask about what 'my paw is an ate-up jerk with superiority complex' means or is that a sore subject?" She bounced her legs off the bollard and waited. Kael chuckled to himself and stalled by fishing about in his paper bag for an unbroken chip.
"Not much to tell, really. When I was growing up, he was always this larger-than-life figure. A captain in our local militia. It's a port town, kind of like this one...Damali, ever heard of it?" She shook her head. "Well, it's only been officially incorporated for a few years. It's on the southern shore of Wildemount, a joint settlement...?" He looked up and she was paying close attention but showing no signs of recognition. "Not important. Anyway, he taught me everything I know about fighting, about duty, about...I don't know, everything. How to be a man, how to be a soldier, how to be a father." Kael distractedly rummaged about in the bag again. "I remember wanting to be in charge of my own regiment one day. I was gonna charge in with my men at my side just like him, ready to defend the innocent and still make it home in time for dinner." He chuckled absently at the memory. Eya reached over and stole a chip.
"Sounds like a good dad so far." She said. He chuckled again and shook his head.
"Yeah. Well, then you grow up and you start to see your parents for what they really are: people. Turned out I should have been paying closer attention. But I guess they never really live up to what we think they are, you know?" Eya munched her stolen chip and shook her head.
"Nope." He looked at her questioningly and she swallowed the chip. "I was a foundling."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize." She shrugged it off. "Still, you must have had someone that you looked up to?" Eya's legs stopped bouncing and she stared off into the crowd. A memory from the night when she fled the abbey bubbled up, unbidden. Brigid, sitting with her in the twilight, watching her bleed her terror out onto the roof...and trying to convince her to go back to the fighting. She shook her head to clear it and resumed bouncing her feet off the bollard.
"Yeah. Yeah I guess I do get what you mean." The pair silently considered each other while the sun sank toward the hills above Marisfall. Looking over Kael's shoulder, Eya squinted in the fading light. She could just make out some figures milling about near the last ship on the eastern wharf.
"What's wrong?" Kael noticed her concern and turned to follow her gaze. He could make out the figures as well. His practiced eye picked up on their intentionally nonchalant bearing. They had to be Saltwrights. "Well, we know where they are, at least. Hopefully that's all of them." He turned back around, but Eya was still staring intently.
"What about her?" She finally said, jutting her chin in their direction. He looked again and saw who 'her' was. A lone woman among the crowd of rough looking men. She was hard to miss, towering over most of them and well-dressed in leathers, fine pants, and riding boots. Most notable of all though was her mane of deep red hair. She moved throughout the assembled crew with an imperious bearing and they all swiftly moved out of her way or looked busy when she approached. "That must be 'Estera' in the flesh." He observed. Eya nodded slowly.
"And there's Maruk..." She trailed off and Kael squinted in the dying light. The bizarrely-shaped bronze sword glinted in the low sunlight and he nodded in agreement.
"Hard to miss." He agreed and looked back to her. The aasimar studied her face, she was still staring intently and looked uneasy. "What's got you spooked?" Eya slowly shook her head.
"I'm not sure...there's something off about her." Kael chuckled and tossed another chip in his mouth.
"Aside from her being taller than most of them and having redder hair than you?" Eya's concentration finally broke and she laughed at him.
"Yeah, aside from that." She laughed again and shoved his shoulder playfully.
"Whenever you're done flirting," Liriel's voice emerged from the crowd while she walked past without acknowledging them, "check the gate."
Sure enough, a pair of large horses at the head of a large wagon were entering the switchback path on its way down. Judging by the crossbow wielding men on the roof and next to the driver, this was probably their quarry.
"Time to make the sausage." Kael said, standing straight. Eya pulled the last morsel off her skewer, broke it, and tossed it over her shoulder into the surf. She hopped off her perch, pulled a strap out of her satchel and affixed the bag to her hip with it.
"Time to make the sausage." She repeated.
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In the waning, orange light of late afternoon the wagon wound its way down toward the boardwalk. Its driver was in no hurry. The lanky, pallid man guided his horses slowly around each bend with a practiced hand. His partner, seated on his right, was not so calm. This man was smaller, stockier, and twitchier. His agitated nature made the driver all the more wary of the heavy crossbow in his hands.
"It's some drunk-ass dwarf setting off those fireworks." The voice came from behind them, on the roof. A third passenger, also bearing a crossbow, testily observed the spectacle. "A gold says I can shut him up from here." The man raised his weapon and peered down its length.
"Put that down, idiot. You call attention to us and you won't live to collect." The driver warned him, and he dropped his aim with a grunt. The rooftop lookout then spit off the side into the brush and continued to scan for threats. The crowd at the base, which was now beginning to migrate up the path as stalls started to close for the night, navigated around the cart without much attention being paid. The well-to-do weren't an unknown sight in Marisfall and this wouldn't be the first armed and armored coach to grace the port.
As they cleared most of the crowd and were about to break into open boardwalk, three large explosions burst colorfully over them. The horses finally got agitated, nickering and snorting until the driver had to slow them down. The roof crossbowman cursed and drew his weapon back up.
"That's it! That dwarf is fuckin' dea-" The wet squelch at the end almost sounded like the letter 'd' on the chaotic wharf. The driver's guard sat up and looked back to see his partner slump over and fall off, an arrow protruding from his throat.
"Shit! Go! We're gett-" He looked back to the driver and his eyes went wide. Where the lanky driver had sat just a moment ago there was now a beautiful, dark-haired, light-eyed, half-elf wearing a grin that could trigger involuntary bowel movements. He panicked and immediately fired his crossbow from the hip. Amazingly, the bolt struck true and buried itself in her windpipe. He watched her gurgle and clutch at her jaw, then pitch back and fall off the cart. He scrambled for the reins, his brain caught between moving and reloading his weapon. Still clutching the empty crossbow in one hand, he felt a jostle and looked up with the reins in the other. She was back. The exact same half-elf.
"Hey fuckface." She raised a dagger to his heart but he didn't get the chance to experience Liriel's lethal precision. The arrow that now protruded from his ribs took precedence. Liriel scoffed and shoved him off the wagon.
"Quit showing off!" She shouted into the brush. Liriel angrily snatched the reins and began turning the team around.
The screaming finally started then, as three dying men writhing on the ground will tend to stir up a crowd. Liriel cursed as the few pedestrians near her couldn't seem to figure out which way the slowly turning wagon was going to get out of its way. The stream of invectives that came from her was more than enough to get some of them moving. While the vehicle moved through a full rotation to face back the way it had come, Kael casually grabbed a handhold at the back. He stepped up onto the rear running board and lifted Eya with his left hand, swinging her to the opposite corner.
"Hang on." He grinned at her. As soon as the horses were pointed northward, Liriel urged them on, accelerating rapidly away. High above them in the tall grass and brush, Theron reached out to Elara.
"Time to go, Stickers. Ach, I wish I coulda seen that dope's face when his buddy looked like Daggers. Ah well." When she took his outstretched hand, he pointed at the front of the cart and murmured "Foomp." With a sound that distinctly resembled a foomp, the pair disappeared into a Dimensional Door and reappeared in the air directly above the speeding wagon. They impacted the solid wood roof and bounced, splayed out. Elara anchored herself with a rock solid grip on the edge and grabbed the sliding wizard's ankle with her left hand, keeping him from going off the opposite side.
"Ya gotta stop with the heroics love! I'm gonna go broke buying yer drinks every night!" He laughed with relief and Elara shot him a wink. Once he was securely settled, she twisted about and crouched, green cloak and brown braid whipping into the air.
The commotion and loud disturbance on the roof roused another defender. The door at the back of the wagon flew open, nearly knocking Eya to the ground, and an absolute wall of a human squeezed himself out. Kael goggled at the absurdity of it. This was not according to plan. In fact, how this bruiser even got into the wagon was a mystery for another time. About his neck and shoulders, he wore a thick metal gorget with ugly, matching bracers on each trunk-like forearm. When the large, bald brute saw Kael hanging there, his face contorted in rage and he raised one enormous fist into the air. Intent on swatting the fly from his presence, he swung hard toward the aasimar. Not wanting to be squished like such an insect, Kael gripped his handhold and jumped away, swinging onto the side of the cart. He braced his boots just above the spinning wheels, kicked off again, and swung back around.
The little fly returned to the brute, this time with his boots aimed squarely at the man's face. Even though both soles landed and caused his head to whip around, his sheer size kept him from falling out. He audibly growled at the white-haired pest.
"Ohhhh gods, you're a big boy." Kael nervously chuckled. The growl grew in his massive chest and he raised his arm above his head once more, but the door swung back around at him. It bore a small cleric, swinging freely from the handle. She tucked her legs in and then kicked them out, lengthening her small frame and sliding smoothly into the wagon between the brute's knees. The two remaining combatants, both thoroughly confused at this turn of events, looked down through the gap.
Eya didn't waste any time inside; she popped up and grabbed onto the ceiling. Swinging her body and tucking her legs once more, she impacted the large guard and kicked out, hard. Just as she struck, the wagon bounded down a slope in the boardwalk. Liriel had driven them right past the winding switchback path out and was headed at breakneck speed for the northernmost piers. This portion of the wharf was lower to the water, meant for small personal craft and fishing boats instead of larger merchant ships. The sudden, stomach-flopping drop combined with her well-timed kick, threw the brute off balance and he tumbled out. Unfortunately, he managed to grab Kael's arm on the way and both men bounced and rolled their way down the descent. Inertia being what it is, the small cleric couldn't simply kick a human-shaped wall without consequence and inside the wagon she flew forward. Eya hit the floorboards and slid until she felt the sharp pain of her head impacting the front wall. Looking up dizzily, she grinned at the open door and stood up in the jostling interior.
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"Wow I can't believe that worked!" She blinked away the double vision and set to her task. Around her, Eya saw six people sitting chained and gagged. Three on each side of the cart; men, women, and children. All looked worse for wear, but not too terrible beyond grimy clothes and perhaps a bit of malnutrition. Each wore manacles and chains that kept them restrained and seated. "Oh farts, there's six of you. Okay, yeah, no problem. Let's get to work." She reached down and grabbed the chain keeping the nearest person in his seat. The young boy, with his mop of unruly brown hair, must have been their original target. "Hey Jory. You're Jory right?" The boy nodded eagerly. "Excellent. Watch this magic trick."
Eya concentrated and squeezed the chain, then yanked, hard. The chain broke in her hand and a pile of reddish-brown dust spilled to the floor. His eyes went wide. "Ta-da!" She smiled and moved on to the next person.
On the roof of the wagon, Theron was holding on for dear life. Elara took the sudden drop in stride and kept her eyes trained on the wharf ahead until she heard the tumbling thuds behind her. She turned and saw Kael rolling off with the bruiser. She patted Theron's back twice.
"I'll catch up." She leapt off the back, pushing as hard as she could to cancel out her speed. When she landed in a crouch, her boots skidded down the sandy wooden walk for another foot before she stopped. Elara smoothly drew her bow and began firing volleys at the brute as she walked to them. While her aim was as true as ever, his gorget deflected her kill-shot arrows. She managed to land two in his back, but his sheer mass kept them from being lethal.
Both fighters rose to their feet and Kael struck first. He snapped his foot at his opponent's knee and managed to drive him back down to the ground. The brawler was not amused by this and was getting irritated by the unrelenting rain of arrows. He reached out and landed a solid right hook to Kael's chest plate. Ordinarily this would have been something the experienced fighter could have laughed off but being struck in the solar plexus by a flying log was not so simple. The breath was knocked from his lungs and he was sent soaring toward Elara. He rolled and skidded to a stop in front of her as she stepped around him and pulled her machete.
"You good?" She asked without breaking stride. He sat up, coughed, and gave her a thumbs-up.
"Good. Watch out though...someone let an elephant out and he's maaaaad." He groaned as he stood up and followed her. Pulling his own weapon out, the pair charged back into battle.
Further down the wharf, Liriel ran out of road and pulled back on the reins, hard. The wagon skidded to a dramatic halt in front of the last pier, scattering the assembled anglers, crabbers, and sailors. She leapt off the driver's seat, ignoring their complaints and opinions on her driving, and ran around back. People were already coming out of the open door.
"Hey!" She called after a young woman who started to bolt. Liriel pointed down the pier. "That way! Unless you want back in...chains?" She cocked her head, confused. The woman, in fact every person climbing out, was still wearing manacles, only the interconnecting chains were broken. Theron fell ungracefully off the roof and popped back up next to them.
"This way folks! Follow the dwarf now!" He waved them on and jogged out onto the pier. Eya emerged last and watched the prisoners run out. Liriel eyeballed her intensely.
"Got lucky again, huh?" The cleric looked at her innocently, brushing off her hands. She looked down at them then held them up to the rogue. They were covered in reddish-brown rust.
"That's me...lucky, I guess." She chuckled, but Liriel did not take the bait.
"Six times in less than sixty seconds? Cut the crap." Eya's smile faltered and her eyes went wide. She pointed behind the rogue.
Kael and Elara had wounded their brutish opponent and were currently running at full throttle toward the last pier as well. Even though the enormous slaver was back on his feet and bounding after them, what caused Eya's panic was behind him. At the crest of the slope downward stood the statuesque form of the woman they assumed to be Estera. The woman's face was a contorted mask of hatred and she raised an ornate, vicious longbow. A longbow she had not been holding earlier.
"H- How did she get here that fast?" Eya shouted and bolted forward. She clapped her hands together, intent on throwing a shield behind her fleeing teammates. Before she could get close enough though, the woman loosed her arrow, striking Kael in the shoulder. The warrior pitched forward and collapsed to the ground. Seeing this, Elara skidded to a halt and helped him up, but they had lost critical seconds. The pounding of their pursuer's enormous feet closed in on them and he raised his hands above his head. Eya changed tactics, clutched her holy symbol, and extended her other hand toward him. A bolt of golden energy struck the brute in his face, sending him tumbling as well. The warrior and ranger dove out of his way in time to see Eya dash past all three of them, directly back at Estera.
"Fiend!" The cleric shouted, her own face contorted in an unfamiliar expression of rage. She began marching single-mindedly toward the slope, hurling radiant spells with both hands. Estera appeared amused by this and batted the magic away as she would a fly. Although Eya was not landing blows, it still kept the woman from drawing another arrow. Their stalemate couldn't continue much longer. Unfortunately, the steadily growing rumble echoing through the weathered wood beneath her feet signaled that time was rapidly running out. Saltwrights were on their way here.
Liriel had dashed forward as well, helped Elara to her feet, and was picking Kael up off the ground. She suddenly looked up as though she was listening to something, then rolled her eyes.
"Yeah yeah, we're coming! Hey, 'lara! Go help Theron, I've got these two!" The ranger looked worriedly over Kael, who seemed much worse off than an arrow should have made him. Her eyes shot wide open.
"He's poisoned! That arrow was poisoned!"
"I know!" Liriel shouted back. "Now GO!" Elara hesitated but acquiesced, hopping over the disoriented behemoth that was struggling to stand between them and the pier. The rogue mumbled at her back as she went. "Stealing my kill. Bitch, watch how I show off." She reached back and yanked the arrow out of Kael's shoulder. It was an amazing shot, she had to admit. It had landed just above the lip of his chest plate and outside the strap over his shoulder. A perfect hit to disable his sword arm. Turning back toward the pier, she looked up into the towering slaver's enraged face. "Fuck...Shake it loose and let's go Red, NOW!"
The alert snapped Eya out of her singleminded pursuit. She spun around and saw her two teammates about to be crushed by their enormous foe. Terror streaked up her spine and she immediately bounded down the weathered wood planks as fast as her legs could carry her. She felt slow and sluggish, like she was submerged in a nightmare. The gigantic fists of the brute raised higher and began moving down, quickly. Behind her, Estera's cocky grin morphed into a wide, sadistic smile and she raised her bow once more. Everything slowed down for Eya and she made a decision. The kind of choice one makes in an instant, without worry. The kind of choice that, in the moment, arrives with perfect clarity.
Eya slid to a stop and whirled her arm in a long arc behind her head. Her lip curled with a feral snarl and hatred erupted from her throat in a primal shout. Black fire burst around her arm and flowed up to her hand as it reached the end of its rotation, now pointed at her enemy. The bolt of entropic darkness surged from her fingers and flew out across the wharf striking true; directly in the slaver's face and emerging out of the back of his head with a splatter. The effect was immediate and horrific. As his body pitched forward, his face began to blacken and rot. When he finally struck the boardwalk, the bone within shattered to dust and what was left oozed out, actively decaying before its time. Eya froze, revolted at what she had just done.
Unseen by any of them, Estera dropped her aim and stared, wide-eyed. She took a single step back from the slope.
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Out on the pier, Theron was assisting the last prisoner to gingerly step into a single-masted fishing skiff. The boat rocked worryingly as the harried young man got in, and Theron gestured downward.
"Tha's it lad, lay down like the others, everyone needs to stay low if we're gonna keep this thing stable. No worries everyone, we're professionals!" He clapped once and threw the frightened mass a reassuring smile. Elara came running up behind him.
"Let's go, let's go, we need to go!" She breathily shouted as she leapt into the boat. Theron rolled his eyes when her landing caused another bout of rocking and terrified screams. He gingerly stepped in and moved toward the back while Elara began raising the sail. The small vessel had an equally small shelter at the aft that allowed its operator to man the rudder while staying out of the sun. When the wizard nestled in there, he noticed he was next to a small boy with unruly hair. "Ah! Ya must be Jory." He extended a hand to the boy, who took it tentatively and shook. "Pleasure, my names Theron, tha's Elara. Now stay down and watch the show, hey?" He winked and dug about in his pocket with his tongue clenched between his teeth in concentration.
"Ah ha!" He shouted, and pulled out a single pea.
Up top, Elara heard shouting from down the pier. She tied off the sail and turned to look, but it wasn't the stragglers. A bronze dragonborn fisherman was running toward them, arm raised.
"Hey! That's my boat! I need that!" He roared. She recognized him from their lunch on the wharf two days prior. Eya had bought the spread from him...Valdros. His name was Valdros.
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Liriel watched the towering giant in front of her fall to the boardwalk, dead before he even hit the ground. She was about question it when Eya ran up beside Kael and pushed them forward.
"I'll heal him, get going! They can't wait for us, tell them!" The rogue blinked at her, unable to process what was happening. "Liriel! GO! They need to get those people to safety, we'll be fine!" Kael raised his head and wearily eyed his old friend.
"Get going, I can get her out of here. Go." The half-elf finally snapped into action, nodded at them, and dashed down the length of the pier past the angry dragonborn. High above the last two rescuers, Maruk ran up beside Estera with a crowd of angry Saltwrights behind him.
"I want that cleric's head." She commanded him without looking away. He nodded and raised his bronze khopesh into the sunset sky. With a roar they surged forward in a wave, their leader standing above the din and observing.
Kael had begun jogging as best as he could down the pier, with Eya pressing a hand to his wound from behind. Try as she might, concentrating on healing while not tripping was becoming a problem in their panicked flight. Each hobbled step meant that the enraged slavers drew closer. Finally, she dropped her hand and shouted up to him.
"We need to stop! I can't concentrate like this!" She was becoming winded from the fight and flagging on their already hampered pace. Kael looked back and, without missing a beat, scooped her up in his uninjured arm and continued running. "OH!" She shouted, then leaned over his shoulder and laid a hand on the wound again. "Oh yes, this is much easier!"
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The skiff rocked dangerously once again when Liriel dove headlong onto it. She scrambled up among the prone bodies of their passengers and looked directly at Theron. "Go! Now!" She shouted at the dwarf, who looked around.
"Where's Shiny? Where's Eya?" The rogue picked up a fishing lure and angrily chucked it at him.
"Kael's got this, just GO!" She reiterated. Theron huffed, stood up, and winked at Jory.
"Watch closely now." He smashed the pea between his palms and slid his right hand forward, chanting under his breath. The moment he completed the maneuver, the ship's sail billowed out in the direction of his gesture. A strong wind came from seemingly out of nowhere and the small vessel lurched forward. They cleared the end of the dock in moments.
Some twenty feet away, the fisherman roared in frustration at his lost vessel. Thirty feet behind him, Eya shouted in glee and Kael got a second wind. She had healed his wound while hanging from his shoulder.
"Whoo!" She exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air. "Okay you can put me down, let's- Oh no." She saw their escape ship swiftly departing. Kael chuckled and squeezed her tightly.
"Just hang on, I've got this. It's your turn to trust me." They dashed past the angry dragonborn and Eya waved to him.
"Hi! Sorry!" She watched the edge of the pier coming up quickly, looked back at the Saltwrights who were rapidly gaining on them, then fixated on the end of the pier again. She grimaced and clenched her eyes shut, trusting her teammate but saying a little prayer just in case.
Kael planted his foot on the last board and leapt. He felt Eya squeeze him with all of her surprising strength, but they did not hit the water. In fact, they missed it entirely. Eya finally peeked and gasped at what she saw. Large, white, shimmering wings had borne them aloft. Kael was flying.
"Omigods omigods OMIGODS!!" She laughed out loud and cheered joyously, overwhelmed with the sensation of flight. She clung to him with all her might, her head swimming from the experience. Even with the sea air whipping past her and the waves below lapping at them, she distractedly wondered if all aasimars smelled of cedar incense; like the kind she remembered from Brigid's rituals of her youth. Eya shook her head to clear the thought...that would be an awkward conversation.
Behind her on the dock, Valdros roared in anger once again, this time loosing a bolt of lightning from his mouth. The bright line of arcane electricity grounded out in the surf just shy of them and she could smell the ozone for a moment before they were out of range. They were not out of danger yet though; Saltwright arrows and bolts began to rain toward them from the end of the pier.
Kael circled the skiff once to bleed off speed and swooped in to offload Eya on top of its small aft shelter at her behest. She landed on both feet, set her stance, and leaned forward as the aasimar settled himself at the rudder and ducked. Theron got down low next to Jory again. Above them, Eya clapped her hands together and spread them wide, throwing a shield behind the boat to block the incoming projectiles. While most missed entirely, a few avoided the shield and embedded harmlessly in the mast. Others ricocheted off the magical barrier, each with a triumphant bong to signal another successful intercept. The skiff was moving quickly out of range thanks to Theron's conjured wind so he slumped down next to the boy beside him. He looked over to make another joke but saw that Jory was staring up, transfixed. Theron followed his gaze.
Above them, her robe whipping about and her hands turned outward to support the shield, Eya stood defiantly against the incoming barrage. The determination in her expression bordered on regal and the dramatic wind in her clothes was enhanced by the red glow of sunset on her face and hair. It looked to Theron like a wild, second sundown perched above them, protecting them. He chuckled and elbowed the youth next to him.
"Careful there, boy-o. She'll break yer heart."