My firast instinct was to move forward, but Ann cut me off sharply.

"No!" She snapped. "I might be infected."

I snarled, a surge of frustrated helplessness swarming me.

"I thought this Delcova shit was done!" I heard myself snap. Ann just watched me with that irritating calm she manages at times like this, that calm that makes me feel about five years old.


The area affected wasn't huge, but it was large enough, and I was careful to avoid it was we waited for the others. Meyonne reappered at last, followed by a random elf and Alaric. Bleary eyed through he was, he sobered up swiftly, and cast a spell on Ann after having her wash clean. He claimed the spell would remove all curses and illnesses.

I guess it worked, or well enough.

He also took care of the small mound of flesh and blood; we could see the result of that one. When he finished chanting, the mound looked like normal flesh again, not inflamed, angry flesh.

Well, as normal as a pile of human remains can look. We scoured the deck and everything touched. When it was certian all was safe, Alaric burned and we dumped the remains.

And the whole time, Jasper watched us. Ann brought my attention to that little fact with a subtle motion, and it got Alaric and Meyonne's attention, as well. I come forward, smirking and leaning on the railing.

"You lookin' for something?" I asked, in no mood to play games.

He wanted to know what happened, and suddanly there was Alaric, beside me, grinning that manic grin.

"Nothing a little cleansing flame couldn't handle." He said.

Fucking pyro.

Jasper wanted to know if they should be concerned, and Alaric merly repeated himself.

Jasper looked nervouse and backed away. Wisely, if you take a moment to consider it.

Then Alaric glanced at me. "He might know something more." He said, and scuttled off. Ann began to mutter instantly, and I just shrugged, following the cleric.


Alaric got Jasper's attention, and asked if he knew the man who'd come aboard the ship. Jasper's grin was a shit-eating as they came.

"I do." He said, and when Alaric reached into his purse, Jasper held out a hand and flipped his board over. It read, 'To keep everything you told me a secret-100g'

"He paied his fee." Jasper said, and I felt my teeth grind. Alaric looked dissapointed, and Jasper grinned again. "But...." He drawled, and turned the sign once more.

'To have me break my word and tell you everything- 1,000g'

My jaw hit the ground.

Alaric grinned.

Ann, behind me, said only one word.

"No."


Jasper told us we could try other questions, and trying to keep the peace, I suggested we do that. I reached into my purse, withdrawing a single, very special coin. I handed it to Jasper, who instantly flinched back.

He told me he wouldn't take Almoric coin. I grinned my most innocent grin and told him it was all I had.

"I saw where you got that." He snapped, and my grin turned guilty. Indeed, it was the dead man's money.

Hey, it'd been Alaric's idea. Don't look at me that way.

We got a few answrs frm Jasper, but mostly hit dead ends; through we did get that the man had arrived on a Citadel ship. The shi[s activies weren't looked upon well here, and there'd been clergy on the ship; and that no one cold give a proper description of the thing.

Wonderful the Citadel was involved somehow. That made things needlessly complicated.

We thanked Jasper, and headed back to our own ship. We were all in brooding silence, until Alaric at last glanced at us. He asked if we needed anything else. We said no, at least now, and he nodded. He informed us, with that, that he was going to bed. He wanted waking when everyone else came back, and with that, took his big, hung over self back below. We explained, as best as we could, to Meyonne what had happened in the Citadel, but this wasn't the same. Similar, but- differant, too.

But Ann and I both imagined that the same bloodline was behind it.

I could tell Ann was frustrated and angry; her entire body screamed it. She was stiff and tense, her arms crossed, unable to stay still. I, though, was neither, anymore. I was just- resigned. We'd known that nothing was over, should have known we'd see blacklash from the Delcovas, after everything they'd done.

This was just one more hurtle to be overcome, if we could.


I left Ann to her brooding, heading below myself to cool down and just rest. Someone got me when Farn came back; he told us he was going to clean up and wait for the others. Conchetta came back next, and Ann told her to do the same.

Then Noman. I was flying below before he even got to the ship, ready to gather the others. However, I was informed that Noman wanted to talk to us; Alaric, Meyonne, Ann, myself- alone before we got everyone else together. There was an edge to his eyes and voice I did not like, and Ann sent the other hirelings out of the room none too gently. She didn't like the way Noman was behaving, either, then. We settled around the table once they'd dispersed, and then Noman began, eyes flashing with anger. He told us that if we expected to keep him on, he wanted a pay raise, and enchanted items. He also wanted a weapon.

I felt rather then saw the danger enter Ann. Noman was treading very thin ice with her, and if he knew what was best for him he would shut up. Very few people can speak like that to Ann and get away with it. Noman is not one of them. He hadn't earned that, yet. Little fool was still only a hired hand.

I spoke before Ann could rip him a new asshole, though I was pretty annoyed myself. You want something from me, you ask, you don't fucking tell me, not when I hired you and we're miles from your home and I can dump your happy little ass right here and fucking forget about paying you at all.

I took a breath, and simply asked why that would all be nessicary, reminding him that we had an agreement.

And he told me that he hadn't agreed to go up against deities. His words pretty much shut us right the fuck up, because what do you say to that?

Especally when it's true?

"What do you mean?" I asked, feining innocence, struggling to keep my voice even. Noman informed us that he wanted us to agree to the terms first. I looked at Alaric and Ann, knowing how easily Toby's ilk could get involved; we just hadn't expected it. Alaric said, softly, that it was our gold, meaning Ann's and mine. His too, now, I wanted to say; he was, is, a part of us, now.

I pulled in a deep breath, and flashed quick hand signals back and forth with Ann. She didn't want to loose Noman, feeling he would be useful, and he did need appropriate gear. I left the final choice up to her, and she agreed to his terms.

Fine with me; but damn if my hackles weren't up at his tone and attitude.

Still, I continued to do the talking, and then Noman explained himself. Covan'd arrived sixteen days ago, and left three days ago, as we'd been told, to go to volcanic activity where the Stygyn Preistess was meant to live. She's this six armed woma who has a snake's body, and supposedly is from the 'Great War', and eats enchanted items. Only old ones, though. Supposedly, her little minions can smell magic. Enchantments.

Supposedly, Covan had purchases at was supposedly plagued. Five men had died in their prime, aged prematurely, after Coven took off. The place they'd died was belived, now, to be cursed. I looked at Ann and Meyonne, who were clearly sharing my thought- after the South, we were in no grand hurry to deal with more curses.

Alaric, between us, was silent and considering, as he always is. Quiet fell.

Well, go on, diplomat, be dipolmatic! Snapped a little voice in my head, and I forced a smile and thanked Noman, telling him we'd get to work on his needed things straight off. He smiled back, though it lacked real warmth, and suddanly Ann spoke up. She told him he'd get the armor that night. I glanced at her, as did our Cleric, our brows raised. Ann told Noman to bring in Conchetta and Farn. Noman nodded and left. I asked her how she planned to get this armor, and Ann told me she had leather armor she couldn't wear. She'd just give it to him; it'd save us money.

I hope that was just Ann using good commen sense and not Alaric's misery-ness rubbing off on her.

Speak of the man, he was laughing, softly, at her words.

The others came back in then, and Farn started us off. He told us Almoric had been without a ruler for one hundered some odd years, because the tribes couldn't agree on one. There is a task said to be made by dragons, the same thing Mr. Axe was going for, to crown oneself leader, but you must first pass seventeen-seventeen-challanges. The people's deitey was called Kordash, who stood for power and mental sharpness; this horrible, dry desert had once been beautiful, huge forests, too. Caladishar was another being worshiped here- the Huntress. The Tigress. He told us about the differant traits of each tribe; the Norran, a people who were of the great Forge Smith, the Stygyn with their preistess, the Archists, who were magical, a great deal considered shaman, and the Kotem, who intregied me, with a Bardic mindset and lifestyle. They were the most nomadic of the tribes. There were also two more unnamed deities; two more deities known only as he who brings the storms, and she who brings the winds.

Farn excused himself, and Conchetta slipped onto a bench alone, head down. Stammering, stuttering, she informed us that she'd gotten no information. She looked so embaressed, so ashamed, that I assured her it was alright. She didn't take my assurances, and when I was about to go on, Ann's hard voice from my right said, 'Then you will try harder tomarrow'.

I flinched. Oh, Ann, it must be so wonderful to be without flaw. Conchetta stammered a bit more, then promised that she would before fleeing.

"Ann, I told you to be nice!" I snarled. She was just a kid, fiarly unexperianced and skittish.

Ann just gave me a look, then fell into discussing plans of action. He called our hirlings back in, and found that Noman wanted to take Conchetta when we told him we were interesed in finding the Kotom. We agreed he could, and sent Farn to find out about local tribal customes. Again, they got gold for what they must do. Then we settled in to eat, deciding that the rest of us would look into the five dead men. The hard part, right?

In the morning, we headed out to do just that.

Within a few minutes we found ourselves where we needed to be, at a burned house at the end of a very narrow allyway. There were sentienls gaurding the bridges to it, watching us like gaurddogs. And at the burned and smoldering home, a figure knelt before a candle, a great axe that could cleave me in two without effot was laying carelessly in the dirt beside him. A beautiful weapon, but meant for someone big. Very big.

Turned out that he was.

He was muttering prayers as we drew near, and sounded like he'd been at it for a pretty good time; for as long as the candle was burning, it seemed. And the candle had a good way left to burn yet.

We didn't have that kind of time.

The figure did not look up as we drew up, but his hand drifted to his weapon, lazy and laconic. That's the most dangerouse kind of move, that is; like a big cat lazily showing you his teeth. He's not smiling at you, that's for damn sure.



We all paused, and then Ann's hands in the small of my back, shoving me forward. I twisted around and pushed her, instead, and she dodged me with even more skill then I possesed and pushed me up once more. Grinning despite myself at our childish game of you first, I stepped forward- then reached out to snag Ann's wrist. She snarled a curse, then asked the figure to excuse us, please.

He stopped and looked up. He was huge, larger then Meyonne, bigger then nearly anyone I'd ever seen. He even dwarved Talron and Alaric, and they're not small, either of them. He was powerful, all rippling muscle and sun worn, browned skin. His eyes, though, were not stupid; we weren't looking at a musclebound lunkhead. Intellegence and curiosity, personality and a firey temper sparked in his eyes, which were brown, like his weather tousled hair. No cruelty, though, and no melevolence. His hand not on the weapon's hilt rested on his knees, and in front of his lay material, sandish colored.

"We were wondering what happened here." Ann went on softly, and his gaze instantly dulled. He looked away from us. Ann told him she didn't mean dissrepect, and that we were looking for the tailor's shop.

He told us, in that raw, broken voice, that we'd found it. It was a very deep voice, gruff. we asked him what happened, and he said only what he'd been told. When asked if he knew one of the men, he informed us one had been his uncle. Ann smiled, and introduced herself; proper name, too. He told us his name was Thorin, and explained that this had happened early morning time. All the men who'd died had been a part of a clothcraft guild. They'd been commisioned to make something for a specific group of men, and they'd all specialized in one thing in the process. They'd made the worst mistake of their lives when they'd said yes.

Barely days later, they'd all been dead.

His uncle, Thorin went on, had also sold them an emblem he'd won gambling in Molholender days ago. We asked him where he'd been for this, and found he'd been outside, fighting dark elves.

We all stopped, glancing at each other. So, he disliked drow, hu? That gave him points in my book. He'd been fighting them for over four years. The contempt, the pride, the anger, the disgust in his voice; it allrang very clear.

Then Ann asked him if he was the only one mourning the dead men. He was; he was also the only one to not belive they had been cursed. No one else would try and offer his uncle's spirit rest, so he'd come to do it himself.

My heart sank a little. Poor big guy; loosing family was hard enough, but this on top of it? and with no one else even mourning with him?

I resisted the inane urdge to pat his head.

Then Ann spoke once more. She told him we didn't belive his uncle was, either, or any of the others.....they'd been killed to-

and that's as far as she got. He roared a What!? And leapt up in one smooth bound, like any good preditor. He hovered over us all, towering even above Meyonne- and suddanly, Ann was diving behind Meyonne like a frightened mouse.

I sent her a surprised glance, then turned my attenion back on the man before us. He was storming like an angry bull, but in those expressive eyes I could see more the anger; there was hurt, and confusion, sorrow and frustration there, too. Yes, he was big and intimidating. Yes, he could squish me like a tick, if he'd wanted to.

But he didn't want to. Like anyone who'd lost a loved one, he only wanted revenge. Closure. Answers. Peace.

I began to speak. I let my words stay even and slow, soft and steady, like one would talk to a feral dog. My words were empty plaitudes, sincere but ultimatly meaningless; it wasn't what I was saying that mattered. I needed Ann to calm down, and I needed Thorin to focuse. And it was working; the more I spoke, choosing my words carefully and keeping my tone even, the more he calmed.

Once I fucked up, causing him to blow his lid again; Ann once more ducked, squeaking, behind Meyonne. I forced myself to stay calm, forced myself to see the human hurting in his eyes rather then the rage and really, really large axe he held.

Beside me, I noted, Alaric was calm, too, unaffected by the raging beast. He stayed steady at my shoulder, ready should anything happen but unflinching. I took comfort in that, in his solid pressance. I explained to him that we didn't know his uncle's killers or where to find them, no, please stop shouting, big, big barbian, but we're tracking them. Please stop scaring the elf now, we need her.

When I looked over, even Meyonne was tense and backed away from us a step or two, Ann pressed into his back and shaking like a leaf. Why were they so scared of him? He had no desire to hurt us; not unless we gave him a reason.

He accepted my words and started to calm, describing the emblem sold by his uncle. He didn't know much, besides the size and the draconic writing around the edges. Alaric and I thanked him, and he began his prayers once more, easing back down. He moved away, leaving him to it. Meyonne had scooted Ann around in front of him, and stayed pressed right to her back, like an alpha wolf guiding a mate away from threat or danger. He seemed really fucking spooked out, and so did she.

I feel even with them, unable to help teasing. "You're not scared of him, are you, Anja?" I asks, and to my surprise, it was Meyonne who spoke, telling me that man could intemidate stone.

I shrugged, and went on about walking forward. He was just a man who could physically hurt you. There's nothing all that scary about that. Physical damage is just that; you can fight back or run, you can avoid it, it's upfront and clear. If someone wants to slap you, the worst that will happen is you get slapped.

Thorin didn't scare me. People like Ann's daddy, people like Kaedwyn Monsay, they frighten me.

The sentries still watched us as we came back, and when we got to the end, Ann halted abruptly. Meyonne nearly ran her over. He said her name questiongly, and the rest of us stopped, too. She asked why we hadn't examined the remains, and the idiot moment hit me so strongly I nearly whapped myself in the forehead. Alaric said he couldn't talk to any dead, there were none left to speak with; but Ann said that's not what she meant. I asked what, and she said the lycan may have left evidence.

Once again, idiot moment.

It was decided Alaric would go in first, then Ann. Then we headed back.

Thorin watched us come back, and had no problem with us inspecting the house; though he did tell us if we stepped past the ash we'd be considered pretty much invisible to everyone in town. Or if they did speask to us, it would only be to rip us off.

Look at how much we care.

Alaric vanished into the house, then came out perhaps ten minutes later, semi-victoriouse. He said there was one area with a magical aura, nothing more. Thorin wanted to know what that meant, and Alaric explained something with magic was inside the house. He asked if Thorin knew of anything in the house that was? Thorin didn't. He didn, though, know where the dragon item was kept, and told us. Surprised surprise, that was the magic item. Apperantly, the uncle didn't know that. He demanded to know if that was why his uncle was killed, and the only answer we could give sounded weak, even to myself. We just don't know now. Alaric asked when the man had gotten it, and was told about two years ago. Alaric said that wasn't right, didn't quiet match up.

Ann's turn.

She informed us she was planning on searching the house, in case anything was left behind. As she went in, I heard her mutter about no one liking her much anyway, and I had to shake my head. Silly elf, she never made much of an attempt, did she? But that's alright, the people who mattered liked her just fine. Thorin, to my surprise, asked Ann if she said that because she was an elf. She paused in surprised, then smirked.

"Call it a problem in translation." She said, and vanished inside.

A good stretch of time later, the pair, Alaric and Ann, came out again. They told us what they'd found inside; glass shards that had taken years off Ann's life just by touching them (heh, and I already tease her about being old!) and the magical residue of the dragon peice.

Thorin asked what this meant, and Alaric told him it meant this had been planned out. Murder. He told us there was a man in the city who might help; Thorin called him 'Heshnel'. He spit it like you would a nasty tasting something you'd bitten into. He told us this Hesnel was a trained alchemist, and finding him quietly would be best.

We thanked him once more and said farewell. So did Thorin, asking us that if we found his uncle's killers to let him know. We agreed, and as we headed off, Ann suddanly spoke from behind us.

To my great surprise and pleasure, she asked Thorin if he would like to travel with us. He stopped his chanting yet again and regarded us for a bit. Then he nodded as Ann spoke to him in quiet, low tones, before pushing upright. We waited, and after a long moment, he pinched out the candle and rose.

Agreeing to come with us.

I felt myself grinning and heard Alaric chuckle to my left. "Where to?" He asked.


We decided that Ann and I were to split up to look for our newfound lead. Alaric and Thorin were coming with me, and we'd go near the tents of food and drink. Meyonn and Ann headed back towards the gambling area. We'd meet back at the airship before nightfall.

I found a private corner, when I could, and glamoured my armor, for the second time in it's life, too look rather like a loose woman's outfit. My breasts, what little of them there were, were fairly revealed, and my legs- what little of them there were- flashed through a slit in my skirt, a hint of bare flesh every other movment. I began to pass myself off as a woman looking to be rid of my husband. I got the gaurd's attention, but I also got the attention of the men I needed. Alaric and Thorin had abandoned me to look at shiney weapons, and I felt that if I pushed getting one of them, I'd loose my chance. So I took a deep breath and followed this man, alone.

He took me to a huge building, in an ally, where he tapped out a code on the door and let me in. There was a bodygaurd inside the hall, a cocky, arrogent man who kept one hand behind his back, and when at last I got him to back off,I met Heshnel himself.

Oddly, I found myself liking the man. Well, not liking ,exactly, bt there was something to Heshnel that made it impossible to hate him. Not honor, that's not the right word, but.....something. He wanted five thousand gold for information or my daggers as collateral, and I refused to give him both. So he said he'd let me walk out.

Which he did let me do. His goon tried to stop me, though, and got the upper hand on me. I screamed like a banshee, and to my surprise, Alaric and Thorin came bursting in to my rescue.

When we returned to the ship, I began to explain what had happened after Ann told us that she and Meyonne hadn't seen hide or hair of Heshnel- well no shit, friends. I wonder why that is.

I expalined what had happened, and none too happily, either. I felt grumpy and irritable, like I had failed- someone. Not myself exactly, and not the others, but- I felt like we could have done something I hadn't. Like I should have pushed things I didn't.

About halfway through my tail, another man approched the ship saying that he'd a note for us. A note that said, very simply, that Farn had been taken.

Kidnapped.

And they wanted a thousand gold to get him back.

Son of a bitch.