Chapter Six___________
They stayed that night in the inn, and, in celebration of Lucia's joining them, nobody drunk a single ale the whole night long at her request. The pub was filled to the brim with arguing shifters who were on a sort of bestial pilgrimage. At one point in the night, Sparrow went out to the outside balcony to get some fresh air and found herself standing next to Bastian. He gestured at the sky. "Nice night." Sparrow muttered ascent and looked up at the moon, her thoughts strangely trailing back to Link Farshot.
*Bastian*
He gave her a thoughtful sideways glance.
"Tell me about yourself." Said Bastian. "What brought you to Wanderglenn?"
Lucia bit her lip, appearing unsettled. "I'm just an elf who left Meliamne in search of a city life. I've lived in Wanderglenn ever since. Nothing interesting." Bastian was curious nonetheless. Lucia, catching this, said, "What about you?" He looked up at the stars. "I was raised in the mountains by others of my kind. I don't remember my parents. Those who looked after me knew nothing of them, or if they did, they wouldn't tell me. I left as soon as I was capable and ran into Jukenaar as I was journeying too far into the mystic hills. He helped me get out of a tight spot in a cave with three shardminds, and we formed an alliance. Juke and I travelled south. We came across a bound and gagged halfling who was tied up in spider's thread for use in a sacrificial ritual to Lolth. We set him free and he came with us. We have been caught up in many a bar fight thanks to him." Bastian chuckled. "I've had 24 years, and still I haven't found out the fate of my parents. Its quite slack, really." He had a smile on his face but his great opaline eyes were hard. "I sometimes- get angry- at those who never thought to help me find them. All those years in the caves and they didn't even tell me a hint of what they knew or who else would know. If they were dead at least I could avenge their deaths.
"They might be dead, for all I know." He finished absent mindedly.
"Well at least you didn't run away from yours." Said Lucia unexpectedly. Bastian was shocked. "You ran away from your parents?" He said incredulously. He wasn't disappointed, just surprised. Lucia looked mortified. "Just- don't tell Jukenaar." She said hastily, and disappeared inside.
Inside the tavern, Finnbar was wreaking havoc as usual. Bastian marched inside, followed the noise, saw the halfling in a growling match with a notorious looking shifter and scowled.
"FINN." His voice thundered around the hall. He looked up to the inside balcony and saw Lucia look up. He softened. "Finnbar. No." The halfling was too involved in his growling match to be bothered paying attention. Bastian sighed. "Finnnnbaaaar…it's your last warning." The halfling looked up mid-growl and growled rudely at Bastian before turning beck to the shifters, some of whom were starting to circle him hungrily.
Bastian strode right into the middle of the group, picked up Finnbar with one arm by the collar and held him up above his head. Finnbar struggled angrily. "Put-me- DOWN."
"So you can be eaten by shifters?"
Finnbar yelled furiously and cursed in goblin. "They started it! They told me to prove myself or get out of their corner." "You were in their corner?" "Not eavesdropping!" Yelled the squirming Finnbar. "Its the corner by the fire. I always sit there!" "Were you there first?" Bastian inquired nobly. "Nooo,,." Said Finnbar, sounding like a six year old child. "But I had every right to sit there too."
"Not if they were talking about something they would like to be kept secret."
"Well I didn't know that!"
Lucia suddenly appeared to have an idea.
"Well, they could have been talking about something important. In any case, something we could benefit from knowing."
Bastian raised his eyebrow at her, mouthing "Why?"
Lucia tilted her head towards Finnbar and gave Bastian a look that plainly read, 'I know what I'm doing.'
Jukenaar, who was watching from the counter, rolled his eyes.
"So what did you hear, Finnbar?" Lucia was saying kindly.
"Well!" Finnbar gushed happily, "They're planning to launch an attack on big special temple!"
Bastian grinned. "So you were eavesdropping."
Finnbar slowly realized he'd been duped.
"Yes, but- but- I found out important infor- informing- stuff, didn't I?"
Bastian chuckled. "Whatever temple they are planning to attack is their own business.
"Now. Let's get more ale." "No ale, remember?"
Beside them, Finnbar was starting to sulk.
Suddenly a voice behind them made them jump. "Exactly whose temple were they intending to attack, Fin?" It was Jukenaar and he looked worried.
"Something evil."
Bastian threw his hands up in the air. "By the shield of Bahamut, Finn, they're on our side!"
Finnbar made a grumpy face, arms crossed. "They told me to shove off."
"Well, yeah, thats what I would say also."
Finnbar just became more sulky at that.
Lucia suddenly tapped Bastian on the shoulder. He turned. "Luce?"
"Sorry to break up the conversation," She said quietly, "But there's a man over in the corner who hasn't taken his gaze off us for the past quarter hour."
As they both turned to look at him, the man stood up.
*Sparrow*
Chapter 7 _________________________
"My name is Travius." The man said.
He wore a long dust-covered cloak with a fur hood and was bedecked with many gourds for food and water. "You appear to travel far." Sparrow remarked decidedly. "That is so." Said Travius. "I am a merchant. My business is successful but recently I ran into a spot of trouble. I won't tell you about this now, but I will merely say; there is something in my possession that needs to be transported. I would appreciate a guard of sturdy adventurers and you fellows seem worthy to help me on my quest. I am willing to provide food and lodgings along the way, and my pay is high. Would you do me the honor of accompanying me on this journey?"
The four looked at each other unsurely. "The way is not long. Merely a day's journey northwest around the mountains, then northeast through the foothills and straight north through the forest to Elderhaven."
Sparrow breathed sharply before she could stop herself.
"Lucia?" Said Bastian curiously.
"Oh. I just once knew someone from Elderhaven. Nothing interesting."
This was the second time she'd guarded her past that night and Bastian's suspicions that she was keeping something from him grew.
Travius appeared not to notice.
"So? Will you help me? It is of much importance."
Jukenaar took the reigns. "It would be our pleasure. I am Jukenaar, and these are my comrades. Finnbar, Bastian, and Lucia. We are happy to serve."
Finnbar had started to scowl dazedly up at Travius, causing Bastian to frown upon him with a sort of fatherly concern.
Not seeming to witness this either, Travius gathered up his belongings.
"We leave tomorrow at dawn. Be ready."
The next morning, Sparrow woke with the sun. It was her habit, one she'd picked up by sleeping on the rooftops nightly in Wanderglenn, being exposed fully to the force of the sun whenever it arose. Today, she woke up to the strange discovery that she was in a room. Then she remembered herself, and brightened.
Sparrow was humming as she strapped herself in her armor. It was just as she was swinging her quiver and bow upon her back when she heard a knock on the door. "Come in!" She sang, finding her coin stash.
The door opened.
It was Jukenaar.
Sparrow, who had been expecting Bastian, was surprised. The fair-haired Eladrin cleared his throat. He was wearing robes of striking blue which matched perfectly with his eyes, and he carried his staff in one hand.
*Jukenaar*
"Lucia."
"Yes?"
"It seems that you have been keeping valuable information from me." He said, in Elfish.
Lucia looked as if she had been doused in icy water. She replied quickly, also in her own language; "I didn't want you to know. I thought you might contact my father-"
"Your father? What I meant by valuable information is the location of my longsword, which you so kindly stole from my room in Wanderglenn. Although if there's something else you'd like to tell me-"
Lucia gave a forced laugh. "Not at all. I have your sword. I may as well give it back now."
She handed it to him.
He smiled and said, "And my coin purse."
Appearing to fight with herself for a minute, she searched for it for a few minutes and finally found it under her mattress. She gave it to the eladrin. "I suppose you want Finnbar's lucky helmet as well?" Jukenaar nodded, and she fetched it.
Lucia returned with the dented helmet. "Wait," He said, beginning to grow suspicious, "How did you know it was Fin's lucky helmet?"
Lucia hesitated. Then she said confidently, "This helmet is sized for a halfling. It also has a large dent in it. If you really are respectable adventurers, you would replace it; if you had the gold, which you so obviously do.
"Unless, that is to say, it were a lucky helmet."
Jukenaar was nonplussed for a moment, then laughed. "You're right!"
"Its been known to happen." Said Sparrow.
He was leaving the room when a thought struck him and he suddenly frowned. "Just who is your father, Lucia?"
"Uhm, just a craftsman from Oakenheel."
*Finnbar*
Finnbar, who was listening outside the door, scowled as he heard only,
"Ellllmm, deian ei Meliamne safies lrillenn." Which, to him, made obviously no sense at all. He ran as quietly as he could back to Bastian. "They're talking in Elfish." Bastian sighed.
You shouldn't eavesdrop. I asked you to enquire whether or not she is actually from Elderhaven."
"She said something about Meliamne."
"That means Oakenheel. She is telling him the same story she told me."
"You think she's lying?"
"No." Pause.
"Or maybe-"
"Yes?" Bastian said reluctantly.
"Could be." agreed Finnbar,
"Yes," Said Bastian, patting Finnbar on the shoulder and making his knees buckle, "Could be, lad. Definitely could be."
*Jukenaar*
Jukenaar was eating a bowl of porridge with Lucia when the others came down into the tavern. "I'd thought you were still asleep." Lied Finnbar easily. "Nope." Said Lucia.
"Where's Travius?" He said. "It's well past dawn."
"The great fool is late already." Growled Finnbar.
Lucia sighed and sat back. "So?"
At that moment, Travius appeared. "So are we off, then?" he said brightly.
The four adventurers looked at each other, then one by one nodded their assent.
"Then let us begin." Said Travius, leading the way out.
Chapter 8____________________________________
Travius's cart horse was old, grey, and bore strong resemblance to a common donkey. Travius fed it some water. The cart, however, appeared to be in good shape. Bastian arrived outside to find Finnbar testing this out by jumping upon it several times. He placed the halfling gently on the ground. "NO."
Meanwhile, Jukenaar was bending down on the dusty road. He seemed to be picking something up off the ground. Upon closer investigation, he realized it was a tiara. Sparrow took it carefully from his hand, and placed it upon her head. "It's yours?" He was speaking in elven again.
"Yes." She replied, also in elven. "An old friend made it for me. The night I left the colony." She bit her lip and hoped she hadn't said too much. "It's made from a sparrow's bones." Sparrow winced as the word came from his mouth. He was too close to the truth for her liking- "Sparrow. I've heard that as an elven name. Somewhere before, some ten years past." Sparrow shut her eyes. "It's…nothing." She said in common. He suddenly clicked on something. "Sihairta." It meant Sparrow in Sylvan. Then he said it in elfish- "Siera." Finally he said the words that Sparrow had been dreading. "Cleodine Mediera." Sparrow turned white. "She was a princess of Elderhaven. Tall, dark eyebrows, blond hair." Sparrow remembered the way she had looked when she was a princess. Sparrow had the ability to change her hair color; an ability that flowed through the veins of elven royals. When she'd left Elderhaven, she's changed it from the medium length blond waves to a much shorter, raggedy brown flecked with red and violet streaks. When she had followed the eladrin back in Wanderglenn, she'd changed her hair to a straight, long flowing red, the color of a cherry. Then when she'd adopted the name Lucia, she'd chosen to keep it that way. Hopefully this way no-one would recognize her as a thief OR as a princess, but the eladrin was getting dangerously close. He was still talking. "And her eyes were a strange vivid indigo- very much like yours, in fact. I remember her, from one of my travels. I was in Elderhaven with Bastian, and we were both quite young- only about seventeen. That was ten years ago. We went to see the king because of something my sister Jemiera had found. It was a sort of royal magic instrument, for the kind immediately recognized it. The princess was sitting beside him. I remember it well." Sparrow, realizing he did not yet recognize HER as the princess, went with the flow. "I've heard of the princess also. She is rumored to be brilliantly uncontrollable." "We could use her with us." Chuckled Jukenaar. "Oh, she'd never do that."
Sparrow turned and walked away towards Bastian, fitting the crown upon her head.
*Bastian*
Bastian was thirsty. "Is there anything to drink?" He asked Travius. "Finnbar broke my flask." Travius handed him a drink. He gulped it down. The water was fresh and sweet.
Lucia suddenly appeared beside him. Something looked changed about her, but he couldn't figure out what it was. Perhaps she had done something different with her hair. He smiled at her. "Should be a long journey." She grinned. "So I've heard. I'm pleased, though. It'll be nice to see new places." Bastian smiled again at this. "A true adventurer at heart." He said strongly.
With a rattle, the cart set off.
By noon, Bastian was starting to get the feeling that something wasn't right. Lucia kept darting ahead, curious and fascinated by the wildlife and new surroundings. Finnbar was skulking along moodily, every once in a while shooting a angry glance at him; and Jukenaar was glancing frequently along at the back looking wary. Bastian cinched his eyes and rested his hand upon his greataxe. This, at least, eased his nervousness a little.
*Finnbar*
Finnbar was hungry, tired, and growing impatient. He strode up front to Bastian, with some difficulty; his short legs didn't carry their owner far. Finnbar resorted to kicking the dragonborn's shin to get his attention. "Oi! Bastian!" The dragonborn turned and faced the little creature, who only reached a third his height. "Yes?" He said huskily.
"Riiiight. Me legs are shortar thun yors. I'm thenks it's onlee faiir tha' I deesurve a break."
Whined Finnbar. Bastian sighed. "On the cart with you then. I suppose you're right."
Finnbar leaped happily on to the cart, making the horse groan. The cart slowed down a considerable amount. Finnbar opened his book.
Deer Dairy
Tooday I going on long travvel. It bad. I'm realy ex- exaus- tired and grumpy but so far my idea of keepeng up wif thees adventingrurs has ben the bestest wey of getting monee. Sumtimes I feel frendley tords them, and othur times I culd attak them.
Bastian anngers me sumtimes.
***
The landscape was changing fast…..
PART TWO *Sparrow*
Chapter 9_______________________________
It was nightfall when the group finally came upon the mountains. Deciding to tackle them the next day, the adventurers stopped to set up camp at the base of one of the grassy foothills they had been traveling on all that day. The mountains seemed to suck all the air from their lungs; Sparrow had never seen anything like them before, and the thought of having to go through them frightened her. She walked forward, trance-like, until she was close enough to rest her foot upon the edge of one. The steep outcrops of pure rock emerged sharply from the grassy plain without the slightest warning. Enchanted and breathtaking, Sparrow looked up at the huge pinnacles of ice, so far above her that she could barely see them. The vegetation stopped abruptly, as if no living thing would think to take root there. The mountains were breathtakingly high, and the easiest way through was a steep climb between two of the tallest. The two peaks only separated about a quarter of the way up, and even that was the sort of height that no-one in their right mind would look forward to climbing.
Tearing her eyes from the mountains, Sparrow turned towards the others, but to her surprise realized she had walked a large distance ahead of them and could not be seen. She suddenly became very scared. "B-Bastian?" No reply. It seemed as if the mountains behind her swallowed her very words. She tried again. "Jukenaar? Finn?"
That was when Sparrow caught herself. Who was she? A cowardly elfling far from home? She could take care of herself.
It was just as she was thinking this when she heard a scream.
*Jukenaar*
Jukenaar was digging Finnbar's tent out of his backpack when he began to sense something approaching. He turned around suspiciously in time to see three or four goblins rushing towards them; and before they could do anything one of them snatched something out of the cart. Travius screamed. "The box! They've taken it!" Bastian thundered after one of the bandits but the goblins were long gone. It had all happened so fast that none of them even had time to react. Jukenaar's eyes widened. "Who were they? What did they take?"
Lucia came running suddenly out of the bush holding her bow outstretched. She fired.
The shot went an impossibly long way, hitting with incredible accuracy. Lucia's arrow struck the goblin holding the box in the heart; but his fellows reached down and took the box from it; running sideways into the forest just as Lucia's second arrow took off. But they were such a long distance away that it didn't matter. The goblins reached shelter easily before the arrow fell.
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