Part 3: A reckoning rides from the west

Pain lances up her arm as her fist strikes the escaping veteran in the back of the armor. "Scheisse," she hisses, and says a few Dwarven words. A cool, soothing energy radiates from her hands through her body, taking away some of the pain from her injuries. She turns her attention back to Ash, who again has the veteran under his control, slowly choking the life from him. She barely registers the veteran's presence. "Ash," she says, looking into his glowing eyes. "I know where to find the resiq. We can save Casimir. I promise." Her voice, still hoarse, breaks on the last word, nearly sending her into another fit of coughing. 

Lilliana takes a moment to stare at Akiran as he abruptly appears once more beside her, followed by a rumbling aura that wraps around her invisible form, complimenting her own protective gravity well. Before she could think to say anything, Akiran was moving up towards their enemies. "Akiran! Please keep one of them alive!" she calls after him. She hadn't thought Akiran trusted magic, let alone knew how to utilize it, but that was something for later.  She could no longer watch Ascian's butchery and takes a moment to search the hobgoblin in hopes of finding anything at all that could shed some light on whom he could be working for, but only finds a handful of coin. With a frustrated sigh she pockets the meager coins, wishing briefly that she had not left her rope inside the building for all the good it had done. "Marianne, I'm... I'm so sorry about the barn. I didn't know that would happen."

"Ascian, enough!" The bellow comes from a new direction and glowing eyes lift in surprise to the direction Ascian's prey had been savagely pulled toward, unable to escape his grasp though not for lack of trying. They land first on a knee and then travel upward, blinking curiously up at the creature he knows dimly is Thezra and is something more than Thezra all at once. Enough,  she'd said, with such authority. Enough. But it would never be enough. After all they'd been through, couldn't she see that? This man was nothing and with Ascian's help he would  become  nothing, returned to the ground and forced to stay there, as they all would be, until the searching stopped. He thinks he says as much, but if his mouth moves he doesn't hear it, an explanation too important to give. The wisps shrouding his neck swirl back to face downward and the garrotte tightens in his hands again, pulled once more before Katrin's voice again catches him, hoarse this time but somehow seemingly louder than even Thezra's.  "I know where to find the resiq. We can save Casimir. I promise." We can save Casimir. Save Casmir. Casimir. Save Casimir. Casimir. Casimir. Casimir. A promise for a promise, one more foot to be put forward; one more step to becoming whole. The green eyes hold hers through the mist, intense and burning, and the handles have dropped to the ground before he remembers telling his fingers to. For a disorienting moment he feels as if he's no longer the boy behind the mist but the shroud itself, writhing around someone else's body as it rises to a knee and then the other, slowly spooling to its feet as a serpent might from a snake charmer's basket. He sees stone, and Katrin, and for a split second something beyond it; a promise beyond the ones made here – one made in the heart of Shadowfell, with a fractured mirror, a wolf, and a ring. I'll give it to you when I can, then. And I will. Once I figure this out. Smoothly, a dagger slides from the shaft of his boot to his fingertips as he uncoils, flicked downward with a casualness never before exhibited with his bow. In an instant the silver glints from shoe to shadow, fingers to throat. The warrior's death throes are loud and guttural, desperate cries for breath as he gasps blood onto misted boots. Ascian hears them as if from the end of a long tunnel, that intensity instead back on Katrin as if the rest of the world has lost his interest. This time the words do come, in a voice that sounds as far away as he feels; distant and demanding and cold all at once. "Where."

"Marianne, I'm... I'm so sorry about the barn. I didn't know that would happen." Marianne glances at the barn with a slight grimace. "Well, dear, you know what they say about playing with fire," she looks at Lilliana, then smiles. "I burned some buildings down too, when I discovered my powers. Not to worry."

The clamour of battle fades and only the two hypnotised warriors remain. Cautiously stepping out from behind Akiran, Thrandimir approaches his catch carefully watching their faces as they stare in wonder at the motion of Thezra's backside. Trusting in the charm that he has placed upon them, the wizard takes the opportunity to pose some questions. "Why are you here? Who sent you?"

Katrin can't help it. In spite of everything that had happened, the arguments, the fire, the shattered crystal...she smiles. The first genuine smile she's been able to manage since they'd arrived in the Crossroads. "Dragonvale. In my father's mines." She glances above the white smoke shrouding Ascian to the black smoke billowing into the air. " Darian warned me against causing trouble," she says quietly. "We need to get out of this city."

Lilliana chuckles at Marianne’s words, but then a very strange and disorienting feeling washes over her too complicated for her to unravel at the moment. The laughter dies into a tearful sob as she realizes that maybe… just maybe she’s finally found someone that understands. A kindred spirit perhaps? A mentor? A… sister? ‘No, that’s ignorant.’ She swallows hard against the knot in her throat and wipes the wetness from her eyes, trying so hard not to let Marianne or the others hear the sniffle. At that moment she was very thankful to be invisible and hide her shameful tears from the others lest they continue thinking she was just a child. Her voice was strained from the tears and raw from the smoke, but she pushed through it as she looks between Ascian and the burning building. “What now?”  

Stormchaser said: The clamour of battle fades and only the two hypnotised warriors remain. Cautiously stepping out from behind Akiran, Thrandimir approaches his catch carefully watching their faces as they stare in wonder at the motion of Thezra's backside. Trusting in the charm that he has placed upon them, the wizard takes the opportunity to pose some questions. "Why are you here? Who sent you?" The two cultists gaze at the dancing half-orc, mezmerized. The question isn't answered immediately, and one of them shoulders the other. Neither breaks where their gaze is being held. "We're here for the Stargard girl," he says slowly, clearly distracted. "The Archon of our order requires her." Marianne gestures to Thrandimir. "It appears the wizard has already begun the questioning."

"What is the name of your order?" Thrandimir asks, glancing over his shoulder at Marianne and Lilli and beckoning to them to come listen. "That was you, right?" He murmurs to the younger girl aside. "Laurine Stargard?"

"The cult of lightning," one says. The other shoulders him again.  "No, it's called The Order of the Lightning God," he shoulderer says. 

Thezra watches as the creature of mist Ash had become finishes his torture, and she exhales, a labored breath that leaves in a furious cough. Dropping her gaze and then her hands to the ground, she falls to her knees, the anger starting to subside just enough for pain to take its place once more. The sound of metal clanging against stone ricochets back to her ear, and she sees the axe and shield she’d grabbed clatter and come to a stop on the pavement, not that she can bear to reach for then at the moment. In the aftermath of the battle, her form finally begins to shrink until she’s back to her usual size, if not self. Every instinct in her told her to stand, to get up should the fight continue, but in a small quiet part of her mind, where warmth and light flooded her senses with a promise of rest, she felt herself drift towards release. Just need to close my eyes… for a moment… The fire above crackles as the barn groans in labored agony, and the collapse of another section of roof jostles her focus back to reality. Not yet.  Legs trembling, she grasps at Katrin’s weapons and pushes up off the stone to stand, then braces against the small structure beside her.  Pausing to catch her breath, Thezra surveys the destruction and carnage, and the gathering group nearby. Katrin was of course with the creature, and she could hear the wizard somewhere nearby. Akiran and Marianne were close, though the girl was nowhere in sight. Stumbling over to Katrin, she gives a wary glance at Ash but simply holds out the axe and shield. ”Dropped… these,”  She extends one arm, her other gripping her side where the worst of the lightning burn sears her flesh still.

Thrandimir shoots Marianne a questioning look. Perhaps she can provide some context? "Do you worship Tempus?" The wizard asks doubtfully.

RisenZed  said: Stormchaser  said: The clamour of battle fades and only the two hypnotised warriors remain. Cautiously stepping out from behind Akiran, Thrandimir approaches his catch carefully watching their faces as they stare in wonder at the motion of Thezra's backside. Trusting in the charm that he has placed upon them, the wizard takes the opportunity to pose some questions. "Why are you here? Who sent you?" The two cultists gaze at the dancing half-orc, mezmerized. The question isn't answered immediately, and one of them shoulders the other. Neither breaks where their gaze is being held.  "We're here for the Stargard girl,"  he says slowly, clearly distracted.  "The Archon of our order requires her." Marianne gestures to Thrandimir.  "It appears the wizard has already begun the questioning." Lilliana feels her stomach lurch as she hears her family name from nearby and Marianne confirms that it came from one of these groups; she had been right. Would she never be free of these people? She rushes over towards where Thrandimir is questioning the men, her unstable foot falls from her prosthetic echoing loudly across the cobblestones as she comes to stand next to the wizard as he beckons them over.  Stormchaser said: "What is the name of your order?" Thrandimir asks, glancing over his shoulder at Marianne and Lilli and beckoning to them to come listen. "That was you, right?" He murmurs to the younger girl aside. "Laurine Stargard?" Laurine’s throat was tight with fear, her shaky breaths were audible enough for those around to hear. Her response is terse and barely a whisper. “Yes.”  ‘The Order of the Lightning God.’ She finally had a name to the faceless group that had stalked her to the last several years. She finally knew what to watch and listen for to hide- no. No more hiding, no more running. It was pointless anyway. No matter what they always found her. She was not alone anymore; she had people to stand with her. She could learn to master these powers she possessed, like Marianne had done, and she would rain destruction down upon them for this. She would do whatever she needed to get her answers. Like Akiran had said; the only thing that matters is getting what she wanted.  No. More. Running. She appears next to Thrandimir with a ripple of gravity that causes anyone standing next to her to feel their insides wobble from the abrupt shift. She looks at Thrandimir with a nod before staring down at the cultists, hoping that she looked more stoic and brave than she felt at this moment. “ I want to know the name of this Archon and why they want me.” She hoped they couldn’t hear the quiver in her voice that she could feel.

Vesh said: ... Pausing to catch her breath, Thezra surveys the destruction and carnage, and the gathering group nearby. Katrin was of course with the creature, and she could hear the wizard somewhere nearby. Akiran and Marianne were close, though the girl was nowhere in sight. Stumbling over to Katrin, she gives a wary glance at Ash but simply holds out the axe and shield. ”Dropped… these,”  She extends one arm, her other gripping her side where the worst of the lightning burn sears her flesh still. Katrin presses her lips together, looking from the burning building to Thezra. She reaches out, but not to take the shield and axe. Instead, she places a hand on the woman's arm, and a soft glow transfers from Katrin into Thezra. Only once she's sure that her wounds have improved does she take the shield. "Thanks," she says quietly. 

The surge of warmth from the glow of Katrin's hand immediately lessens the most sever of the burns and gashes across Thezra's body. Her ragged breathing calms, and she feels some of the energy return to her now. Glancing down to the wounds, she nonetheless can't help but fear the worst. Yet where she'd expected to see the sort of severe disfigurement her arm forever bore, the skin was healing over, if a bit tender still. "You... as well." She pats her side in shock. "Odd. I've gotten so used to the destruction and fear magic seems to bring with it, I'd forgotten why I originally ever wished I could wield any." Handing the axe over as well, she stares down at the ground. "I know it probably seems stupid but I saw them there in the flames. Knew if it was my sword there I'd..."  Her words trail off with the crackle of the burning wood and stone beside them, and she stares back through into the barn, watching the billowing tongues of the fire consume the place piece by piece.

"Tempus? One of the abandoners? Pfft," the first cultist says, still distracted, but with an air of disdain. As Lilliana asks her question, the other chimes in. "Dunno his name. He's the Archon. He wants you because you know where the catalyst is."

Katrin looks away, back at Ash and his green eyes boring into her own grey ones. "It's not stupid," she says, her hands tightening around the shield and axe. "I'd have done the same. If it was your sword." She swallows, taking a deep breath. "But now we need to leave. I don't think we'll be welcome here after this."

Thrandimir considers the cultist's choice of words for a moment. "Are the abandoners Gods? Which Gods are not abandoners?"

"There is only one god that is not an abandoner," the first one says. In another setting, perhaps their words would have sounded determined and forceful. But with the pair staring up at Thrandimir's dancing Thezra, their words simply seem humorous.  "The lightning god," the second cultist says.

Lilliana visibly rocks back with a confused look on her face as she glances around at the others near her before turning back to the cultists. "I don't know anything about that... catalyst  or whatever you called it. Why would the Archon think I did?"

Ascian hasn't looked away from Katrin since she'd first said Casimir's name, but from somewhere beyond and beside and within him, the voice speaks again, impatient and curt. "Yes. To Dragonvale." Rather than push past either of them he turns as if expecting no argument, the mist swirling with him as he drifts over the ledge of the window and back into the smoldering barn, mingling pale smoke with dark.

It takes Katrin a moment to realize where Ash is going, the cold certainty in his voice startling and strange. "No, Ash wait--!" But by the time she reaches for him, he's already disappeared into the smoke. She looks back to Thezra, concern coloring her face. "We need to get back to the guild." She hesitates slightly, the memory of Thezra's insistence on leaving coming to the forefront of her mind. "If you truly wish to part ways, I won't stop you. But...I don't want to see you go."

Akiran almost reluctantly sheathes his blade with the ghastly monster that Ash had become in front him. Turning his back on the scene, the Dragonborn trudges back to the unconscious Hobgoblin. Roughly tossing the man over his shoulders, he makes his way to Lilli, Thrand and other prisoners. Looking over to Lillie "They tell ya anythin' yet?" With a theatric wave to the fire "Gonna have ta get movin, after da shit we pulled yesterday we'll be lucky if we just get da noose after this." His grey eyes coldly roving over the two cultist and his voice loud enough for them to hear  "If ya need more out of em, find da talker and we'll deal with da other...."

Comic Sans said: It takes Katrin a moment to realize where Ash is going, the cold certainty in his voice startling and strange. "No, Ash wait--!" But by the time she reaches for him, he's already disappeared into the smoke. She looks back to Thezra, concern coloring her face. "We need to get back to the guild." She hesitates slightly, the memory of Thezra's insistence on leaving coming to the forefront of her mind. "If you truly wish to part ways, I won't stop you. But...I don't want to see you go." The distant stare on Thezra's face lingers on the burning building, even as the thing that was Ash crawls back into the blaze and vanishes in a swirl of smoke and debris as the entire structure hinges on the edge of collapse. She grits her teeth, and wonders for a second if a well-placed kick would finish the job on it. "Pretty weird how much can change in a minute,"  she muses. "Felt like we were in that place for a lifetime. A lifetime of anger. A lifetime of betrayal. A lifetime of pain." The words and images of the past few hours still remain etched in place there, in her mind and within the barn. The last time her and Katrin had talked was only a few minutes ago, really, yet now the spot was a smoldering wreck, as if the fire was trying to consume the very memory of their collective fury. Or maybe it simply was their fury, given form and freedom to be what it was meant to be. "So much change."  The last of the pale mist fades into the black smoke, and she exhales sharply. "And yet so much remain the same." Finally pulling her eyes away from the fire, she gives Katrin an unconvincing look as she turns towards the street. "Let's move."  

Katrin squeezes her eyes shut against the wave of helpless frustration that suddenly wells up in her chest. Maybe...maybe I need to accept that this is one bridge I've burned. Forever....  But she wasn't sure that she could accept it. She was far too stubborn for her own good. But at what point do you stop hacking at an impenetrable wall.... and at what point should you stop... "I'll gather the rest," she says, turning towards....and she stops, frowning at the odd scene in front of her. What the hell....  Shaking her head, she walks over to where Thrandimir, Lilli, Akiran, and Marianne are grouped. Her eyes dart to the cultists who stand transfixed by Thrandimir's illusion, then to the wizard. She clears her throat, coughing slightly. "We need to get out of the city."

Thrandimir meets Katrin's gaze and nods stoically. "The spell won't last much longer. Let Lill- Laurine ask her final questions and we will." Now the wizard looks to Marianne. "Any suggestions or should we just go by our wits?"

Marianne looks at Thrandimir. "Do what you need to, and quickly," she says. At that moment, Na'arik runs up behind her. "City guard is coming," he says. "We shouldn't stick around much longer."

"I don't know," the cultist says. "You're supposed to know. The archon was certain of it."

As Na'arik reappears and runs up towards them, Thezra approaches the others, only to see... herself? The giantsized image, moving strangely just beyond where Thrandimir stood, is still completely transfixing to the two cultists standing before it. In the moment, she can't tell whether she's more confused or angered by it, but any thought she had before getting there is gone. She glares at the only person who could possibly have made such a thing. "Good to know how you truly feel about me." Ignoring it any further though, she pulls a length of rope from her pack and points to the two charmed men. "Kill one, grab the other, ask the rest of your questions later."

Tegan J. said: Akiran almost reluctantly sheathes his blade with the ghastly monster that Ash had become in front him. Turning his back on the scene, the Dragonborn trudges back to the unconscious Hobgoblin. Roughly tossing the man over his shoulders, he makes his way to Lilli, Thrand and other prisoners. Looking over to Lillie "They tell ya anythin' yet?" With a theatric wave to the fire "Gonna have ta get movin, after da shit we pulled yesterday we'll be lucky if we just get da noose after this." His grey eyes coldly roving over the two cultist and his voice loud enough for them to hear  "If ya need more out of em, find da talker and we'll deal with da other...." Lilli glances over. “Some answers, but now… even more questions.”  She frowns as she tries to quickly filter through the myriad of questions she had ripping through her mind, but time was not on their side, she had to thank for that as the barn fire roared behind. She looks at everyone gathered and nods; they were right, they needed to leave. She leans over to Akiran. “Can you knock this one unconscious and tie him up? Let’s dispose of the other one.”  She points to the more talkative of the two as turns to offer up a nod of appreciation to Thrandimir’s support. “Do we have a way of moving these two? I can make them invisible to hide them from prying eyes.”

Thrandimir hesitates briefly. "...I do, but it will take me a full minute to cast. Can we get out of the open first?"

Katrin looks at Lilli, then to the cultist she's pointing at. Without preamble, she strides over the other one and buries the axe in his neck. He falls to the ground, gurgling as the life drains from his face. She turns around, her expression flat. "We'll be more hidden if we split up. Meet at the guild. We have a caravan to escort." She walks past the group of them, disappearing down an alley. 

With the city guard occupied by the flaming barn, the Fireblades split up and make their way quietly back to the Arcane Minded. As they arrive at Timm's shop, covered in blood, sweat, soot, and lugging a couple prisoners behind them, the half-orc proprietor starts. "By the gods," he says, rushing forward. "What happened to you lot?"

"Ran into some old friends. And some new ones. Wasn't particularly pleasant." Katrin pulls a few strands of hair that had stuck to her face free, her skin feeling tight from the blood that had dried there.

"There is a passage through here that leads out of the city, right?" Thezra looks only briefly to Timm, her gaze scouring the town through the windows for signs of approaching guards, or worse, more cultists. She moves for the elevator.

Timm nods to Na'arik and Marianne as they enter, then turns to assist with the elevator. "Yes," he says to Thezra as the elevator clunks into motion. "There's a passage accessible via rail that will take you past the walls to the west of the city. The waterfall entrance, if you remember from your tour."

"There is one matter," Katrin says, swallowing to moisten her still-scorched throat and clear her voice, glancing to Ash, then back to Timm.  "There was a caravan headed for Dragonvale. We...agreed to escort them, but our morning didn't go quite as planned. Do you know anything about that?"

Lilliana leans into a corner of Timm's shop, shaking and numb from everything that had happened in such a short period of time, the spot where her prosthetic met the stump of her leg felt raw and burned and she shifts most of her weight to her other leg. She stares over at the unconscious form of the cultist they had dragged here, wondering who he was and why they were after her. A catalyst?! What was that? She didn't know anything! She had hoped to find answers, but now she only had more questions. Her mind raced and swam whenever she tried to sort it out and it maddened her. And then there was the barn... she'd nearly killed them all with her reckless lack of understanding of her own powers. Marianne said she could help, but... was there even time now? It was her own fault this time, no one else to hold accountable. She felt ill, like she wanted to vomit.

Ascian stares dully back at Katrin from where he stands hovered by the door, still unsure if it might not be better to walk out of it. The moment the mist had faded and he'd snapped back into his body still reverberates loudly; felt with every movement in the way his bones like lead now, his limbs not his own. And the  weight  – he'd never realized how heavy emotions were until he'd been free of them. No guilt, no worry, no fear. No anchors. Only  go. Like clockwork his hand falls to silver fur, trying to shake off the scent of soot and smoke that clings to every shred of him, as potent a reminder as any of where they'd come from. Unblinkingly his eyes shift from Katrin to Marianne and back. Two promises from two women, made in a morning that already feels like a month ago. 

Timm shakes his head. "I'm afraid I don't, but caravans like to leave fairly early," he says as the lift arrives at the bottom of the massive underground chamber. In the silence after the elevator stopped cranking, the lapping of the small waves in the pond surrounding the Fireblades is nearly defeaning.  "If you hope to catch it, you'd best move fast."

As they all step from the lift, Katrin stares out over the water. "Very well." She looks at her hands, blood stained, covered in soot, and burned. I need to tell them about the resiq. But her voice still hadn't fully recovered from the smoke inhalation. Water. I need a drink of water....and then I'll tell them.  

As the lift comes to a halt, Thezra snakes her way out and through the guild to reach the group's suite. There isn't much here that needs retrieving, but she figured she might as well be thorough — it wasn't exactly likely she'd ever be coming back here. In a short time, she's gathered everything together and sat on the edge of her bed, her fingers gripping the sides open and shut as she lets the overwhelming weight of the day finally sink into her palms and thighs like drooping bags of sand. Looking about the room, she takes it in one final time, then proceeds back into the main lounge of the suite, ready to put it — and this group — behind her.

Katrin had disappeared into the bedroom she shared with Lilli, making a beeline for the washbasin. She scrubs roughly at the blood on her skin, soaking several washrags with the dark red of old blood. There wasn't much she could do about her hair, but she tied it back behind her, out of her face. She strips her armor, leaving it lying haphazardly on her bed with her shield. Taking a rag, she scrubs the blood and gore from the axe. When she reemerges, axe held loosely at her side, she move to the table in the room, placing the weapon on the table, pushing it lightly in Akiran's direction and slumping into a chair. After another moment, she looks at the rest of the group, scattered around the room. Lilli and Akiran, Ash and Ember, Thrandimir, Thezra, and Marianne and Na'arik standing over the two unconscious prisoners. "Dragonvale is...a mining town. My family...we built it from nothing, and we did what dwarves do best. We dug. And we found...well. We found enough to make a living. And over the past 35 years, we've become a place people come when they need to hide. To run. Lately, it's running from the tyranny of Darius and his warmongering." Katrin swallows, squeezing her eyes shut tight for a moment before opening them again.  "I spoke to my father. During the fight," her voice shakes slightly.  "He told me that the mines have a sizable vein of resiq. A vein that can be mined and used to get to the Shadowfell." 

Thezra stands in the suite stating at the captured men quietly before Katrin begins talking. At the mention of resiq, her ears perk up. It made sense a mining town like Dragonvale would have some, and if they were committed to traveling to the shadowfell, then that’d be the best move. But more than that, it was simply a weight off her shoulders to hear. If they had access to resiq through Dragonvale, she could rest easier knowing having kept Ore’Agah’s great hoard of the stuff secret.

Ascian is quiet, back to the wall nearest the door.  We can save Casimir. I promise.  It's Katrin's own words that empower him to speak, over and around and through the larger question of what had happened back at the barn.  "What does he want for it."  He hesitates before forcing his eyes across the room to Marianne's. "Do we need it to get back. Or will we wake up. Like I do."

Marianne shakes her head. "Normally, the spell requires an item specifically tuned to whatever plane you're trying to get to," she says. "The Shadowfell is different...it's broken. Even if we had such an item, I fear it wouldn't be enough. However, I don't think that it will be as difficult to leave. I have an attuned item back at the tavern that should return us to this plane."

“Us,” Ascian repeats slowly. He doesn’t know why the thought of Marianne being there makes him run cold, only that it does. “You’re going too. Both of you.”

What does he want for it. In truth, she'd never once thought to consider that her father might put a price on the resiq. "I don't know what he'll ask for. Or if he'll ask for anything at all. The spell I used to communicate is limited. Only 25 words."  Her voice is soft, quiet as her brow creases in a frown.

Marianne quirks an eyebrow at Ascian's statement. "Yes," she says. "I cannot simply send you. The spell will take me, too. And if I'm going to go, Na'arik won't be far behind."

Thrandimir leans on his staff watching the exchange between Ascian. He'd like to ask what that shroud of mist was, but it doesn't take a wizard's mind to infer that it must stem from the Shadowfell like the mists that surround Daerheim. It seems unlikely that the boy would be able to provide a more satisfying answer. Beyond that, they have their objective now. "What shall we do with these two?" Thrandimir asks, gesturing to the prisoners. "Time is not on our side, but I would like to know what Gesrik told this one. The other, we've already asked a fair amount."