While Aeldevan and Feyre untied the climbing, Magra coaxed Nick into her lap at the center of the carpet. It took some effort and most of her rations, but the wolf hound was secured in the half-orcs gentle but firm embrace.
"He better not throw up after all those treats," Ru warned.
Nick quivered in Magra's arms but was starting to settle. "I'm sure he'll be fine," Magra assured her.
The flight back to camp was quite precarious as the carpet struggled to contain four people and a wolf hound. The entire time, Aeldevan and Skamos gripped their sides of the carpet as well as one another's arms so that neither would fall off.
"Did you have to sit right in the middle, Magra?", Aeldevan whined.
"I needed to make sure Nick would be comfortable," she responded, her face looking a little more green than usual.
Feyre followed behind to make sure she could catch anyone that fell off as well as due to the fact that there was no more room even for her small body. "We're not going that much faster than if we were walking, if at all. Why don't one of you just get off?" Her suggestion was immediately shot down by a unanimous "No!" from the carpet riders.
The thrill of riding the carpet outweighed any rationale. To avoid unwanted attention and injury, Ru kept the carpet below the tree tops and most of the branches, but this meant they were flying so low that any of them could jump off without harm. Despite their slow speed, the carpet did allow them the luxury of not tripping over sticks and stones, so the trip actually ended up taking less time than if they had walked through the brush.
"I am not doing that again," Magra bellowed once Ru stopped the carpet near the herd. Her complexion had turned waxy since they left the lair, and she wobbled over to throw up behind a boulder.
"I guess it wasn't Nick you needed to worry about," Skamos joked to Ru.
"Yeah," Aeldevan agreed as he hopped to the ground. "Maybe we don't ride with that many people again unless we need to."
"Told ya," remarked Feyre as she touched down.
"Fine with me," Ru replied. "Less people means I can try standing next time!"
After they all got their bearings and remade camp, Aeldevan announced, "I'm going to head back to Everlit to see if Olorin has any diamond dust we can use. I won't be able to return until the morning, though."
"Good luck," Skamos said as he gave Aeldevan a passionate kiss before sauntering away to collect more firewood, leaving the half-elf blushing.
"I'll come with you in case you run into any trouble," Magra offered, feeling back to her usual self.
"Awe, thanks. My own personal body guard," the druid replied endearingly.
Magra gave a big grin before sticking her pike of heads into the ground at the edge of camp, much to the others' appreciation. "These should keep away any bad guys," she declared. One of the spectator's smaller eyeballs dangled by its optic nerve, and all three heads exuded a strong odor of decay that would deter any predator if the sight of the heads wasn't enough. Magra then followed Aeldevan to the nearest tree where they disappeared into a shimmering green door that winked shut after a few seconds.
After milling around for a few hours, Ru gasped. Skamos quickly looked up from his new book, and Feyre peaked around Dilliah who was receiving a much needed brushing. "While we were on the carpet, didn't Aeldevan mention we should message someone? It was something like serene, but it didn't sound familiar to me."
"Oh, yeah," Skamos remembered. "He said I should send a message to Surina to see if she could lend any help for the upcoming battle, but I don't remember exactly what else he wanted me to say."
"I'm sure we can figure it out," Feyre chimed in. "How hard could it be?"
It turned out to be rather difficult as they debated on the message for almost an hour. Ultimately, they decided to keep it short and sweet. Skamos closed his eyes and imagined his message going to Surina, "Hi, Surina. We need help. The orc ceremony is starting. We are in the forest west of Hammer's Fall. Miss you, bye."
Within moments, he heard her reply in his head, "Hands full. Eldryl has been slain in massive orc ambush near Dwarvish Citadel 100 miles northwest of Hammer's Fall. Might send other help." As he relayed the message to his companions with some disappointment and sorrow, the clear sky was suddenly overcome with grey clouds that proceeded to shower the land.
"That doesn't sound too good for us," Feyre said. "But let's pick this up tomorrow morning when the others get back," she suggested as they rushed to get the animals out of the rain.
"Sounds good," Ru agreed as she herded Dante under some trees. "But could one of you explain who Surina and Eldryl are?"
◊◊◊
Bracing for impact, Aeldevan and Magra were pleasantly surprised to not land in the fountain outside Haven House like last time.
"Ha, take that," Magra said to the pool. "Stupid water." Before she took another step, one of the tree's smaller branches broke off and landed on her head. She scowled as she rubbed the spot where it hit and walked away without another word.
Stopping at their front gate, Aeldevan called to Aelderheart, "Have you seen Olorin around?"
"I can't say I have," the door replied.
"Thanks anyway. We'll be back later." The druid waved and then turned to head towards the wizard's home. "Let's check his place first," he said to Magra, "and then we'll head to his shop if we need to."
At Aeldevan's request, Magra stayed at the end of the walkway while he checked the door to the wizard's home. With her new maul, she might do some damage if she got too close and couldn't restrain herself. Even after ringing the doorbell and knocking a few times, no one came to the door.
"It doesn't look like anyone's home," Aeldevan told his friend as he turned to leave.
"To the shop we go, then," the barbarian said as she began marching towards the Arcane Artifacts Attic.
The wizard looked up from his purchase log when the door to his shop opened, knocking a small bell to alert him. "Ah, Magra and Aeldevan. Back again so soon?"
"Yeah, good thing I have this new mode of transportation," Aeldevan replied. "We think we may have found Aarin."
Olorin's eyes widened in surprise. "That was fairly quick." Then he tilted his end in confusion. "Where is he, then? Did he not come back with you?"
"He's hard as a rock," Magra burst out. Olorin's confusion remained and was now clearly joined by concern and discomfort.
"What she means is that he was petrified," Aeldevan explained. "We fought a beholder who knew about us out there, and we went back to its lair after defeating it."
"Yeah, there was lots of blood and guts," Magra added.
Aeldevan continued, "At the lower floor we found the statue of a man who seems to match Aarin's description, at least from what we can tell in his current state. We assume the beholder petrified him during their fight."
"That is quite a concern that the creature knew who you all were, but I am glad you were able to neutralize it." The man took his glasses off and rubbed them with a red cloth. "So what made you come back here, then?"
"Although I can restore him back to normal," Aeldevan replied, "I don't have the diamond dust the spell requires, and I have no idea where to get a hundred gold pieces worth. So, we were hoping you'd be able to help us out."
"Or even if you had a diamond worth that much, I could crush it myself," Magra offered as she slapped the haft of Doug in her hand.
"Ah, I see. One moment." Olorin shuffled to a room behind the counter and reemerged with three small pouches which he handed to the druid.
"Wow, three?" Aeldevan carefully placed them into his bag of holding.
"Just in case you find Pip and Brin in the same situation," Olorin clarified, "so please be sparing."
"Understood. Thank you." The half-elf paused before his next request. "Back when we were infiltrating Hammer's Fall, I had planned to use a spell to track Feyre while she flew in for reconnaissance, but I didn't have a mirror or crystal ball to do it. You wouldn't happen to have anything like that that I could borrow for this mission, would you?" Then he added with a hopeful smile, "Something reflective and worth a thousand gold pieces?"
Olorin responded slowly, carefully choosing his words. "I do have a crystal ball that you could use, but unfortunately it is not something I can just loan to you due to its high value."
Looking a little defeated but not sure where else he could find something like that, Aeldevan pressed, "Are you sure I couldn't put down some type of insurance payment? I don't have the funds right now."
Magra whispered to her friend, "Magra pays full price for nothing." Stepping up to the counter with her best salesperson face, she told Olorin, "I'll give you eight hundred."
"With all the expenses of preparing for war and defense that we are doing right now, I am afraid I cannot accept anything less than its worth." Olorin looked sympathetic but also like he wouldn't budge.
After a stare-down that seemed to last an eternity, Magra finally conceded with a huff and smacked down a pouch full of gold that her friend didn't know she had. She turned back to pass him the ball wrapped in a soft purple cloth, "Sorry, Aeldevan. I tried."
"Don't be sorry, Magra. I appreciate it and will pay you back as soon as I can," the druid promised her. He then turned back to the shopkeeper, his eyes a little less lively after the gouging sale. "Have you heard anything else since we last spoke?"
Wanting to make sure there were no hard feelings, the wizard gave a clearly forced upbeat response, "I have heard a couple reports that work has begun on restoring Gangleberry Forest. Be sure to tell Feyre, will you?"
"Sure thing," Aeldevan replied appreciatively, then gently patted his bag as he turned to leave. "Thanks again for your help." Now that the sun was almost setting, the pair headed to Brawny's Rumbling Mug to have dinner.
Brawny was off for the night, but they sat at the bar so that their drinks could be replenished more quickly. They were already on their third round and had started feeling the effects after just the first one since they hadn't eaten since breakfast. "This was a nice little trip," Aeldevan said with a bit of a slur once he finished slurping down his red berry stew, "even if it was a little more expensive than I planned."
Magra clinked her tankard of ale to Aeldevan's mug of mead, sloshing a little bit of his drink onto the bar top. "Cheer's to that." With her other hand, she shoved her remaining full turkey leg into her mouth and seconds later pulled out nothing but the bone. Not only was her friend impressed but so was the waiter at the other end of the bar finishing his shift. Magra saw him staring and licked her fingers suggestively. He didn't protest when she walked over and picked up his lanky elven frame and brought him upstairs to share a bed.
Aeldevan chuckled, not expecting to see her for the rest of the night. Once he paid their tab, he left the bar and was surprised to see how dark it had gotten outside. While he walked to Haven's House alone, he laughed to himself, "So much for my personal bodyguard."
◊◊◊
Magra had to stifle a shout when she opened her eyes, shocked to see the elf lying in bed next to her. Her and Jacob and an open relationship, so it was more because of the elf's displeasing features. "Those drinks must have hit me harder than I thought," she thought to herself as she carefully peeled the sheet off her naked body. She only managed to get her lower half dressed when she stepped on a creaky board near the door.
The elf shot upright, his long straw-colored hair tangled around his pointed ears and nose. "Call me," he said groggily with a wave and with a touch of pep that creeped Magra out even more.
"I'll send you a pigeon sometime," she hurriedly replied as she grabbed the rest of her belongings and rushed out the door. She didn't stop running until she got inside Haven House, careless or oblivious that her top half was mostly exposed. Aelderheart shut his eyes tight once he realized, greeting her and quickly opening to let her inside. She stood in the entry room and dropped all her things to the floor as she caught her breath.
Aeldevan and Janice were at the table having breakfast and almost dropped their forks of blood sausage and goat intestine. "Hi Magra," Aeldevan said. "Looks like you had a wild night," he teased.
"Not funny," the half-orc replied as she shivered at the thought of her latest bed mate. "You should've stopped me."
"Why don't you finish getting dressed and come join us for breakfast," Janice suggested.
"Sounds good, Miss C." The barbarian let everything hang out while she crouched down and fumbled for a shirt in her tangled pile of gear. After throwing it on, she sat down to eat, not realizing she had put it on backwards. The other two merely smiled as they glanced at each other but said nothing.
Once the table was cleared, Aeldevan and Magra thanked Janice and left to go back to their friends. Magra stalked around the tree to get as far from the fountain as possible while bracing herself to block any branches that might fall on her again. As soon as the druid's portal opened, Magra charged through, almost knocking him over.
The tree let them out exactly where they had entered the day before, and the rest of their party was already packing up camp. Although it hadn't rained in Everlit, he could tell there was quite the downpour for his companions even as the clouds had almost fully dispersed by now. Shallow puddles littered the field making the ground softer, and the smell of rain still lingered.
The first thing Aeldevan did was dash over to dip Skamos and give him a big kiss. Standing them back up, he asked, "Did you get to read any more of your book last night?" He couldn't help but stare into his partner's sparkling eyes.
The Tiefling's cheeks visibly flushed even under his cherry skin. "I did! Thankfully I took first watch before the thunderstorm came around, but Ru was able to maintain the fire throughout her shift." He looked over to his gnomish friend. "Unfortunately, Feyre wasn't as lucky." Her face eyes were puffy and she was wringing out her hair. "Did you get what you needed?"
"Yes! Olorin actually gave us extra in case we find the other two in the same condition," Aeldevan answered. "Feyre, he also mentioned your home's restoration project has started."
"Wahoo!", the gnome howled towards the sky, lifting her out of her dampened mood.
"Did anything else happen while we were gone?", Magra asked before going back to baby-talking Nick. The dog had run over to her once she stepped out of the portal and immediately requested belly rubs.
"Nope," Ru replied. "Oh, actually, Skamos messaged that serene person who said a dragon died."
Both Magra and Aeldevan looked shocked, but Skamos quickly explained the messages he sent to and received from Surina. Even with the clarification, the two arrivals were still worried and felt bad for the woman and her grandfather.
"Maybe you can send her another message after we rescue the man back at the lair," Aeldevan suggested to the Tiefling. "There are a couple other people I think we should contact, too, but let's head out while it's still early."
Haven's Blade left Nick with Dilliah, Kevin, and Dante as they walked back through the thick overgrowth towards the lair. No one wanted to risk an accident by everyone getting on the carpet again, but the trip went faster now that they knew where they were going. To keep everyone's spirits up during the trek, Skamos belted out a song about something being "never enough" in the style of the popular bard Shaki-Ra that he skillfully mimicked.
To make the descent into the lair quicker, everyone helped secure a second set of ropes to another nearby tree so that two people could go down at once. Feyre went by way of her boots again to make sure nothing had come to occupy the lair in their absence, but all was clear.
Once everyone was safely on the ground floor again, Aeldevan stepped up to the statue while the other four prepared for a fight. The druid placed his right hand on the statue's chest and held a pouch's worth of diamond dust in the other. With one powerful breath, he blew the dust at the statue before stepping back into a readied stance and then waited for his restoration spell to take effect. Several long seconds later, fragments of the stone began falling off as if an invisible chisel was chipping away at it. What once was gray stone was now giving way to the man's dark skin and clothing.
Once enough of the stone flaked away, the man collapsed backwards into the wall and slid to the ground. He was fully conscious, and in between coughs from the dust, he gasped for air as if he had been holding it for days. Once the man caught his breath, he assessed his situation as best he could in the dim lighting. He tried to speak, but his mouth was bone dry.
"Are you Aarin?," Aeldevan started after a moment. "We're friends of Olorin and were sent to find you." The man nodded his head, confirming his identity, and the team breathed a sigh of relief as they lowered their weapons. "You look pretty beat up, so let me heal your wounds," Aeldevan offered as he slowly stepped toward Aarin. He didn't resist when the half-elf gently grasped his forearm and concentrated on mending the human's injuries, a warm pulse moving from the druid's hand into the man's arm, his cuts and bruises immediately closing and fading away.
Ru walked over and offered the spymaster her canteen of water. Aarin cautiously accepted and sniffed the opening before chugging its contents. A crunching sound behind Ru suddenly caught his attention. Feyre was munching on some trail mix while she watched the others help, but she saw him looking at the food and reluctantly poured some into his palm with a huff. The rogue handed him a small flask as well, although he seemed a little confused since he had just been given water. Once he smelled the bourbon, though, he eagerly took several sips which seemed to do the trick.
Aarin handed back the flask as he stood up, a little more spry now that he was healed and had sustenance, and gave Feyre a bow, "Aarin Gend, at your service." He had a thick accent and dashing smile that was not lost on Feyre, but Aeldevan and Ru gave each other a glance, both a little irked at not being acknowledged for their contributions.
"It was the least I could do," the rogue replied, taking credit for everything much to Aeldevan's ire. "You know, some of us really work hard to help others." The half-elf could've sworn he saw Feyre cast a glance over at him in amusement.
"Would you mind if we did introductions topside?", Magra requested, her body hunched over to stand in the short space. "It's a little cramped in here."
◊◊◊
Aarin nimbly climbed the rope and reached the top faster than anyone was expecting, but Feyre still beat him there with her boots. Once the ropes were collected again, they set off to camp while trading intel.
"So Xalthune has been butchered," Aarin said with a smile when he was informed of the beholder's death. "Then you accomplished what I could not. You have my thanks."
"If it makes you feel any better, it was no easy task," Ru said truthfully. She noticed Feyre flying near him. "Also, I could let you ride on my magic carpet if you need to rest more."
Aarin politely declined, "I think some walking would do my body good after being frozen in stone for a week." He was shocked to hear it had been that long and was concerned about his fellow scouts. "I also appreciate you helping find Pip and Brin. They weren't fighting the beholder like I was, but they could have been captured by something else by now."
At the mention of their names, Frank popped out of Feyre's hood from his long nap. He immediately recognized Aarin and trilled in excitement, running down Feyre's hovering leg to jump onto Aarin's shoulder.
"Hello, my little friend," Aarin beamed, as the creature hopped between his shoulders, squeaking excitedly. "It's been some time. I see you have made even more friends now." Frank nodded enthusiastically and then grabbed the human's face with his paws and gave him a kiss before chittering away and leaping back onto Feyre to hide in her hood once more. "Funny little guy, eh?"
By the time they all reached camp, Aarin had been caught up on what was happening with the gold dragons, neither of whom he was aware of. In turn, the spymaster had informed them of his own findings.
"Would you want to tag along as we search for Pip and Brin?," Skamos asked Aarin.
"My mission is to continue searching the area around here," the spy replied, "but I believe you all are more than capable. Keep following the road, and you'll find it narrows to a stone wall with a single gate guarded by the orcs. Behind it is a tower they use to watch the road, but you might be able to avoid them entirely by traversing through the forest. However, if Pip and Brin have been captured, that's most likely where they're being held if not at a different gate."
"Well, I'm sure we'll see you again," Feyre said as she landed on the ground in front of him. Aarin bowed again, but something made the rogue ask, "Did you happen to take any of my gold?"
With his face stoic, he simply replied, "I did not take you three-thousand, four hundred thirty-five gold pieces."
Something went off in Feyre's brain because all of a sudden she hopped up and kissed Aarin right on the lips. Then she nonchalantly asked, "Have you ever been to Gangleberry Forest?"
Aarin chuckled and held out a fist to her before flipping it over and presenting a rose. "No, I haven't, but perhaps you could show me sometime." Feyre's cheeks were as red as Skamos's skin, and she gently took the rose. She closed her eyes and sniffed it, but when she opened them again, Aarin had vanished, and she felt the weight of her money back in her pockets.
"Wow, that guy's got skill," Magra said quietly. They were all focused on Feyre, so none of them saw him disappear either.
"Well, that was quite the adventure," Ru commented. "Time for lunch!"
"I'm in," Magra agreed, and the two went to getting food prepared.
"Aeldevan, did you want to go over those messages you were thinking about?", Skamos asked. The half-elf agreed and they got to work devising what the bard would communicate to Surina the gold dragon, Alaric the once evil now good wizard from Shadowfell, and Olorin the wizard of Everlit. Once they were satisfied, Skamos concentrated on each person in order:
"On move. Send help to Olorin in Everlit. On our way to Grove from Hammer's Fall. We're sorry about your grandfather.
"Orc ritual to summon Gruumsh within week. Contact Olorin in Everlit. On our way to Grove from Hammer's Fall.
"Healed Aarin, he's scouting. Continuing on our way. Messaged Surina to send help to you. Messaged Alaric the wizard to contact you."
While the others were busy with tasks, Feyre was still mesmerized by the thought of Aarin. Despite the cold and damp ground, the gnome felt warm and fuzzy laying in the grass and held the rose close to her chest as she continued to deeply breath in its scent.
