Rashemen - Book 3

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Atten watched in confusion as one of the monsters appeared to be struggling with something in its mouth. It reminded him of a small child grimacing at trying to swallow some of that horrible tasting medicine they made out fish organs.

 

Seeing Atten Nakia rushed over and grabbed him pulling towards Kongol. "Atten, help Kongol. Arm hurt bad."

 

Ciana flung out another spell at the remaining monster that was moving in her direction, but her concentration was such that she hadn't realised it was actually targetting her. The missiles struck it in the chest, as it lurched and flinched at the impacts a stony object came flying out of its mouth over Ciana's head. The monster crashed into the sand at her feet almost like a supplicant.

 

Sepp rolled on the ground a few times before scrambling to his feet. He ran back over to the monster next to Ciana, which was still twitching a little. Two well placed kicks with stone feet turned its eyes to jelly, then he went to work knocking its remaining teeth out.

"Ha! You big bully!" he yelled at it. "I'll kick your teeth out!" He jumped up high and landed flat out, his elbow putting a small dent in the back of its skull.

Picking himself up again he looked around as the dust settled over the battlefield. Atten was looking very confused, Jex was wounded but would be okay, Nakia had ran back to Kongol, who was on the ground and looked seriously hurt.

On his way over, he shook himself back to flesh and bone, wincing as several long gouges turned into deep slices in his arms and legs, though none too serious.

He knelt next to Kongol, arterial blood was still pumping through the bandage Nakia had applied. The problem was Kongol's arm was too big and muscular, it was hard for a halfling to put enough pressure on the artery to stop the bleeding. He turned the arm above Kongol's head, so that his under arm was exposed. Then he dabbed a spot of blood on it.

"Nakia, I need you to balance with one foot right on that spot."

Though it was a bit precarious, dextrous Nakia had no problem doing it. That slowed the blood down. Sepp searched for life forms to draw energy from to heal Kongol with, but they were in a barren desert, not a lush forest with plenty of excess life. There was life, more than Sepp expected, but all of it was living at the threshold of survival, and Sepp didn't feel right taking it from plants that were barely hanging on. But surprisingly, one of the monsters still lived. The one that Jex had stuck his scimitars into its brains, somehow, its heart still beat. It had more than enough life to bring back Kongol from the edge of death and then some.

He motioned for Nakia to get off Kongol's arm, and Kongol started to breathe deep and easy. Nakia looked like she was going to start in on another lambasting of him for jumping in to the monster's mouth, but he held up a hand to stop her.

"Don't start, cousin. I didn't go jump into the lion's mouth at the start of the fight, only at the end, and only to save Ciana. I figured that since they were trying to eat us, their teeth were designed to cut meat, and maybe bone, but not stone."

He started to bind his own wounds. "Besides, I didn't get hurt too bad."

 

Nakia sighed and decided that right now was not a good time for a lecture besides she was worried about Kongol and she wanted to know more about these monsters. Also, if the gods wanted Sepp to get to Nakia's burrow they would have to help. She couldn't blame Sepp for helping a comrad.

 

“Nice moves, Sepp, but where are you getting all your power from? I’m getting nothing out here in this sandy waste. I don’t think that Druids were meant to hang out in places like this.”

 

"That's true, Atten. There's very little life out here, and the few plants really don't have enough to spare. Actually, I took the life from that monster Jex poked in the eyes to heal Kongol here. Lucky it wasn't quite dead yet. I think we are going to have to be careful out here. Can't count on getting lucky like that every time someone gets hurt. May the divine healers will have it easier than we do."

 

Not seeing anyway to move Kongol Nakia began setting up camp near him. There was nothing to make a fire so she spread out cold food and warm mead. "We had best watch our food and drink too. Not much here to hunt except lizards and the plants won't give us much either."

She went to gather the others and make sure they were alright then settled herself by Kongol. Night was falling on the desert and there was a definite drop in the temperature although the sand was still warm.

 

Dai'altha looked around furtively, then poked Nakia in the shoulder.
'Hey, Nakia! Watch this!'

He lifted the silvery Moonblade, and pointed it towards his stomach. then, he plunged it into his body. As it neared his stomach, he dispelled it, inch by inch, so it looked like it was vanishing into his torso.

Maron looked over idly and sighed.
'Are you still doing that stupid trick, Daie?' She looked over to Nakia. 'Ignore him. If we need food, I'm sure I can help. I can ask Sune for food, if we need more.'

 

"Aye, I've traveled with Cleric of Selune, they can be most interesting and surprising." She looked up at the glow of Selune in the heavens. "Must be the touch of their Goddess." She raises her hand and bows to the moon casting a silvery glow across the desert.

"I'll take the first watch, I am unhurt and not weary. Kongol still sleeps. There may be more of those creatures about best keep a wary eye. Rest friends, we should be off early while it is still cool."

 

Ciana picked up her bow from where she'd dropped it, she unstrung it and put the string away in an oiled packet to ensure it didn't dry out. Next she pulled a soft cloth out of her pack and gently wiped her bow clean of sand, she then put them away in a bag, after some searching of the bag she pulled out some oil, another cloth, a whetstone; the final item was surprisingly a whip, she attached this to a loop on the right side of her belt.

Moving calmly through the sleepers, as she approached Sepp, she stopped and with a gentle sweep of her hands cast a healing spell on him. She moved forwards to where Nakia sat watching over them.

"I'll join you in the watch" she said sitting cross-legged and starting to sharpen and oil her longsword, "I wanted to talk to you about the scroll we found, do you feel that this pull you have towards home is because of what it foretells. It talks of a stony guardian which could be interpreted as your cousin? And, in my experience prophecies have a habit of becoming known when it is nearly time for them to happen."

"I only mention this because if it is beginning to happen, we need to prepare for there will be tough battles ahead of us"

 

"Aye, I think you be right. Our Mother has spoken to me in my dreams. She has told me I must get Sepp back to the Sacred Grove." Nakia smiles rather wanly, "I wish the gods would be a bit more helpful. These battles we must constantly fight don't help any."

Nakia sharpened her own short sword and then spoke softly, "The story of the battle between Corellon and Gruumish is well known. How Corellon took Gruumish's eye. What is not known is that Corellon gave the eye into Yondalla's safe keeping. Being a part of a god it is a mighty artifact. The tale is that the Eye has the power to control the weather. It is said that who holds it can cause violent storms; storms that could destroy our land as we know it. The Hin goddess, Sheela Peryroyl, founded a group of druids and into their keeping the Eye was given. The Sacred Grove lies near my Burrow. We are sworn to protect it."

Nakia turns and looks intently at Ciana, "What I have told you is not commonly known even among the Hin. I thought it was accident that I came across a young, innocent halfling lad but now I believe I was led there by my gods."

She turns and looks at Sepp sleeping quietly near by. "May hap we are all called to aid him. He is so young, so innocent it seems not fair. He has lost all." She laughs without mirth. "I to protect him? He has saved my life many times. He is strong but if we are right he is in great danger."

 

Sepp's stomach growled loud enough to wake him up. It was still quite dark, though the stars gave enough light to see. He had put on a little fat since starting to eat real food again, but not near enough to be comfortable. A midnight snack was just what he needed. He went over to where Nakia and Ciana were sitting, taking out some type of dried meat sticks from a pack. Chewing it vigorously, he let the strange tasting juices swish around his mouth. It was different than goat, wasn't beef. What was it again? Oh yeah, that was right.

"Have you two tried these camel sticks yet," he asked them, "They're not half bad."

They looked at him with odd, melancholy expressions, then at eachother with questioning glances.

"What, what is it?" he asked them.

 

Nakia nodded at Ciana. "Sepp, there is something I think you need to know. I know I'm a wee bit protective of you but it is not just cousinly concern. Don't know how much you know about the Hin gods but the Mother, Yondalla has charged me with protecting you and getting you back to the Burrow. Well, actually a Sacred Grove near the Burrow."

She sighs and looks hopefully at Ciana.

 

Delphinae had one ear cocked ever so slightly backward toward the conversation behind her, as the elves had trained her to do, while the rest of her senses scanned the horizon. There had been three beasts, yet only two bodies lay in the sand. Where was the third? Was it waiting to spring upon them, or had it retreated to tell someone or something of their arrival upon the desert? Only time will tell, she thought as she kept her watch on the shifting sands.

 

Atten dozed. As he drifted into semi-consciousness, his senses were briefly sharpened. One of the benefits of being in such a lifeless wasteland was that he became more sensitive to what little life there was. He was also able to sense the strong life forces of a couple of distant oases. This sense may be of some use on this journey, even if his other skills were severely diminished.

 

Kelvados woke with a huge gasp, oxygen rushed into his mouth, and made him dizzy. He threw aside the covers and staggered to his feet. He placed his hand on the bed to keep him up. He shook his head for his vision to clear. His head ached and he had a pain in his side, he looked down and saw his side was bandaged, his chest was scarred, and his legs were scratched and bruised, his calves had stiches. He cursed, scars were something Drow don't want, he shook his head. I don't care about Drow now. Amazingly he felt good, he was bruised and battered, but his heart was light and his mind was less troubled.

A vision came to him suddenly,

Kelvados! A femanine voice screamed.

"Viconia! Where are you?" He yelled out.

Shade... Desert... help...

"I don't understand! Viconia, VICONIA!" He roared into the empty room. Only silence answered, his strength left him, he fell and the wood floor rushed to meet him. Kelvados groaned, his nose bled and his mouth tasted of blood.

"Viconia," he whispered as he lost conciousness.

 

Jex had peeled off all of his armor. The cold night air was refreshing on his skin. He sat quietly brushing the sand from his skin and hair. It irrated him greatly. He also brushed his armor out trying to get rid of any grain of sand.

The amulet had done it's job, he wasn't even bruised from the battle, but still his grey skin was marred by many scars. Including a large mass of scar tissue at his ribs from the fight in Sepps families caves.

With his armor cleaned up, he strapped all of it back on and walked over to Sepp, Nakia and Ciana. Sitting down he quietly listened to the conversation.

 

"Hmmn, Yondalla must be the Great Mother Ma always talked about, but I don't know of these other Hin gods. And what exactly is a Hin? It seems like these are things I ought to know." Sepp's stomach churned, he was scared and excited at the same time to find out this information.

 

Ciana's face fell as Nakia looked at her to carry on the conversation, but first she looked towards Del and said

"You might as well sit up Del and listen, you're good at that but your breathing changed, enough to show you're awake. I'm not sure how to explain the Hin, that's more Nakia's place than mine. When we fought Torturus amongst the spoils was an ancient scroll written in Ancient Halfling. It tells of a battle against Orcs and other such filth and their God Gruumsh, and how an artefact was taken from him and how it was guarded by a secret society within the halflings.

"As with most prophecies they have a habit of nudging things when it is time for them to come to pass. This one seems to talk of you Sepp and your abilities with stone, rock amd other earthly materials. It seems to point to the fact that with Nakia's sense of urgency that we need to move to the Sacred Grove and help in any way we can. i don't want to say too much but there will be battles ahead. We need to be prepared and we need speed, I wish the brothers were witrh us I feel that we will have need of them before this ends."