Okay! Going to post, then going to watch violinist play his Friday-night pub-rock gig. Going to bring my lappy so’s I can write more story. I think this bit is going much better. Should I try writing with alcohol? I don’t think I should risk it.

This chapter is rather long, but it has the famous part where my brother was looking for a false name and grabbed the first one he could think of – which is the name of a pianist who WE knew… but he didn’t know. So it was pretty hilarious to imagine this pianist friend in this setting.

SPOILERS: I took some rather large liberties with parts of this; like the fact that David seems to be a bit of a skirt-chaser. There’s no way David in our game would hit on Mira, because her player and the DM are siblings. So I added that. Now that will ruin that part of the story for you to know that. : P Also Mira and Torrigan are not involved in any way. If anything, I myself had a crush on Torrigan (though Illinia doesn’t). The mechanics of the plague and Aleic and all that other stuff kind of elude me at the moment, so I’m really making stuff up in there.

It got cold again today. A few flakes around lunchtime (and by a few, I mean a very few). Need to wear my scarf. The crimson cashmere one.

My Dreigiau Book 2 came today! : D

EDIT: added a section in which Mira confides her backstory in Illinia.

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

The weather was good, and the mountains to the north were full of easy passes. They walked steadily, making good time, yet not hurrying.
Three days after they had left Derek’s town, Mira pointed to the sky. “Look! Gryphons!”
Far overhead, two long winged shapes were circling, prowling the sky on the hunt for food.
Mira sighed happily. “You know, I always wanted a pet gryphon. Perhaps one I could train to ride…”
“Well, why not get one now?” Torrigan said. “We’re a match for the parents; if we can find you an egg, you can get that trained when it grows up.”
“How fast do they grow?” Illinia asked sweetly.
“Pretty darn fast,” Mira said. “They’ll be full-sized in a year, although it takes four years for them to become adults. Anyway, do you think…”
“Yes, I think we can get you a gryphon egg,” Torrigan said. “Come on. It’s your dream, is it not? Why should we not deal with it now?”
“Because I have no place to put it? I’m not putting it in the Bag of Holding. That’s where all our collective shared junk goes. And the treasure we find. I’m not putting an egg, no matter how undelicate it may be, in there!”
“Yeah, I might just grab it by accident and turn it into an omelette…” Kellan said.
“You wouldn’t dare,” Mira said. “I’d thump you six ways from Sunday.”
“Oh, stop fighting,” Illinia said. “Let’s go! I’d like to see these gryphons up close.”
“Oh, you will that,” Kellan said.
“Besides, we weren’t fighting,” Mira protested. “You want to see fighting, just let us get going.”
“I don’t like it when you fight,” Illinia said. “Kellan does make me uncomfortable with the things he does; the things that seem dangerous or pointless or maybe kind of unkind, but I’d really rather you didn’t fight.”
“You think I’m sometimes unkind?” Kellan asked indignantly. “Gee, lady, you haven’t seen anything. I’m not unkind at all.”
“Well…” Illinia blushed heavily. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to be critical. It’s just… sometimes, the things you do seem like things that would get you in trouble with… with the authorities…”
“Ah, but only if they found out.”
“But… well, besides the fact that we’re travelling with a Paladin and a cleric, what if they do find out? I always assume that it will be found out.”
“That’s because you’re really bad at keeping secrets,” Kellan said snidely, and went on ahead of the group.
There was a whoosh, a shadow, and a piercing shriek – not from Kellan, but from the gryphon that aimed its body at him. He flung himself to the side just in time, and Mira came up behind, swinging a little club she had bought in the village.
“Let’s see how you like a beating, you poor feather-dusters!” she exclaimed, throwing it at one. It missed. “Dang!”
Torrigan stepped in front of her as the second gryphon landed beside the first in a cloud of dust and feathers and flashing eyes. Mira’s sap-club was flung back in her direction irately, and she ducked it, red braid whipping behind her head.
Illinia’s arrows flashed by them all, striking the gryphons in what she hoped were sensitive spots. It seemed like it, from the way they screeched. One of them lunged forward and snapped at Torrigan’s newly-mended armour (mended by Derek, of course) and he took a step backwards to save himself and nearly fell down the mountainside.
Kellan bounded to a higher ledge to use his flanking move, and nearly got taken out by a lashing tail. But he dodged it, and charged in, striking hits on the gryphon’s hip.
Torrigan recovered and swung his mighty broadsword. His swing was a little slow, and the gryphon dodged it with relative ease, but it did not dodge Illinia’s arrow that followed it, nor his back-swing. That gryphon fell, slain.
The other gryphon gave a shriek of grief and ploughed headlong at them, snapping and clawing. Torrigan fell back under the onslaught, even his heavy armour taking damage. Kellan was hit by a wing and was sent flying down a small cliff. Mira sprang up, her little club back in her hand, and she bopped the gryphon directly on the head. It fell unconscious.
Torrigan leaned on one knee. “Whew. Now what do we do?”
Mira looked at the unconscious adult. “It’s a pity. This one’s out cold, but it’s probably not going to be trainable. It’ll hate us for killing its mate, and it’s too old to be impressionable.”
“We can’t just kill it, though, now that it’s unconscious…” Illinia began.
“Of course we can,” Kellan said.
“Otherwise, it will follow us, looking for revenge,” Mira explained. “I hate to kill it, too, but…”
“I’ll do it,” Kellan said, and before anyone could react, he stepped forward and stabbed the gryphon to the heart.
Illinia gasped. “That was mean!”
“So?” he asked, genuinely confused.
Illinia pouted, equally genuine. “That’s sad… to be knocked unconscious and then killed… just after your mate’s been killed…”
“Ah, Illinia…” Torrigan said gently. “You might have wanted to think about that before we started fighting them. Don’t worry. It’s all right. Mira, do you see a nest anywhere?”
“I think so?” Mira said, shading her eyes with a hand and peering up the mountain. “Let’s go check that out.”
They came across a nest fairly quickly, with one single head-sized beautiful blue-green egg in it. Mira gasped in girlish delight as she touched it. “Oh, I’m so happy! I’m so excited!”
“Good,” Kellan said. “That means this whole thing wasn’t for nothing.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Of course it wasn’t, silly. I just had an idea. How about we make gryphon-feather cloaks? That would be so snazzy!”
“Oh!” said Illinia. “I do like that idea.”
“Aha,” Kellan said, smirking. “I think we’ve found Illinia’s weakness – pretty clothes!”
She gave him a coyly disapproving look over her shoulder. “It is not.”
“Oh? Then how about this red dress you’re always wearing? You do have other clothes, don’t you?”
“Well… I do now! But… this one’s my favourite. And if I meet the one I’m looking for, I want him to see me in this. I’ll be the most recognizable that way.”
“Why, would he forget what you looked like otherwise?” Kellan asked, teasing.
A troubled look crossed Illinia’s face. “No. Certainly not. But… I want him to know that I haven’t changed.”
“Oh, that makes sense,” Torrigan said. “I do hope that you find this person.”
“Is he your sweetheart?” Mira asked. “No, don’t tell me now. Tell me later! When we’re snug around the campfire, just you and me.”
Illinia smiled, though not in complete comprehension. Mira was so insistent on being her ‘best friend’, and while she enjoyed talking with her very much, she didn’t understand the secrecy and the girlish topics. She had talked that way with her elder sister back home, but she told all the same things to her friends, whether they were girlish or not.
But she could indulge her on this.
They stripped the long feathers from the dead gryphons’ wings; they couldn’t take much else. Illinia began making plans for how she could turn them into two cloaks, one for her and one for Mira. The colours were slightly different. One was more reddish, and one more tawny. She would ask Mira which one she wanted. She didn’t think they would look so good mixed.
They camped early that night, and while the others settled down to sleep and Illinia put away the feathers, which she had been examining more closely, they felt a chill wind from the north.
“I wonder what that was,” Torrigan said. “That was not exactly natural…”
“Sure it was,” Kellan said, already half-asleep. “It’s getting late in the year. Soon the trees will lose their leaves.”
“Well…” Torrigan said, unconvinced.
“Just go to sleep, already!” Mira said, curled up in her bedroll, nice and warm beside the gently glowing fire.
“Yeah, so you can have your girl-talk,” Kellan teased, and rolled over.
“Of course!”
Illinia waited patiently. But it seemed that Mira had fallen asleep along with the other two.
When it was time for Torrigan’s watch, she woke him and went to her place by the fire; before she settled down, she took out her locket and looked at it for a long time, tracing her husband’s face with her eyes. He was entirely beautiful; strong and handsome, and when he was with her she felt keenly his wit and joy, and his wisdom. She was so incredibly blessed to have married him, she, a little dancing girl who barely had the courage to speak to people without fear, a little girl without wisdom or wit or strength; a girl who could dance and sing, hiding away from everyone else.
She wasn’t sure why she was so afraid of talking to people, particularly strangers, but she had always been that way.
At least she had her joy. There were few, even among the child-like elves, who could sustain her innocent, full-hearted delight in the world. Everything was beautiful to her, or at least most things that she cared to acknowledge. Perhaps that was what drew her husband to her; her happiness and contentment that at least rivalled his.
But he was gone, and her contentment was disturbed. She longed to have him beside her, to put his arms around her shoulders and let her lean against him; she longed to dance with him, to sing with him, to play harp while he played flute… even, if she dared, to kiss him – although he would probably be the one to kiss her, and many times.
She slipped into memory after memory. There was the time when she was singing at night, and he passed by, some time after they had become betrothed, and he had climbed up to her little balcony, and she had climbed down to her little balcony from the branch she had been singing from, and he had embraced her and looked into her eyes while she sang, while she sang to him…
When she was done – but not before – he kissed her for a long time.
She thought of her family, and wondered how they were doing. Her older sister, placid and wise, was surely biding her time in the forest, assisting the kingdom in administration when they had need of her. Her parents were the same; dearly devoted to each other and tranquil in all things.
Her brother was almost as wonderful as her husband… they were both archers, and served in the military together. Her brother’s hair was dark, like her own, but he was tall and masterful, not like her. She wondered what he had been doing in Gondor when she left; if it was to see her. She wondered how he was doing now, and whether he had accepted her running away yet. Well, there was no way he could follow her, with her being in a different world and Tharash’s rift closed.
She remembered the time that her flighty, wild, almost rebellious younger sister had become caught up with a band of wicked men, willingly, and they had tried to take Esgalwen with them. Her brother and husband had come to her rescue that time. Her sister had become disowned after that stunt, and Esgalwen wondered sorrowfully if she was still alive.
But she could only focus on finding her husband. Her sister had made her own choices; had proclaimed herself in love with one of the wild men, and she must take the consequences as Esgalwen was taking the consequences of her own. Of course, at first Esgalwen’s choice had not been nearly so dangerous, and her sister was far better at taking care of herself than Esgalwen was.
Her new companions were sweet. They were good, and funny, and supportive. But she had not yet told them why she was travelling. She supposed she should do that soon, so that they could help her. But they were so strong; she would be ashamed to travel with them and not seem like she could do as well for herself as they could for themselves. It wasn’t like the people in the villages, where she would leave them soon. They would feel pity for her, and while fragile, Esgalwen wanted no pity.
She would tell them soon. When she was more comfortable with them.
One way or another, she would find her husband. She put the locket away and looked around; it was almost morning.

It was morning, and Mira was watching her.
“Good morning?” Illinia said, wondering if she had done something wrong.
Mira grinned sleepily. “So tell me, Illinia, what part of the country are you from?”
“Um…” Illinia didn’t want to lie, but she didn’t want to tell her she was from a different world altogether. “Well, I’m from a place where the trees are so tall and thick and green they feel like towers in a mighty city…”
“Ooh! Ooh!” Mira cried, wriggling in her sleeping roll closer to Illinia’s side. “I know where that is, that’s very close to where I was brought up!”
“How were you brought up by elves?” Illinia asked curiously. She had heard of such a thing a few times before, but it was interesting to finally meet someone who had done that.
“Well, I’ve been told that there was a great rampage of orcs from the Great Yrtsin Mountains down into Golform, and so all the citizens of Golform stepped up to fight them, and so did the elves of Undilwin, because of course orcs are just as much a pain to elves as they are to humans! But in the wake of the passage of all the armies, I was one of the baby orphans overlooked… and apparently I impressed them with my magic aura or something, so the elves took me back with them without telling the humans.” Mira snorted. “Of course, then I grew up to be a klutz, so eventually the important ones lost interest in me. But my parents…” She grimaced.
“Did they…”
“No, they didn’t abandon me. They were very patient. But my aunt was not so patient, and she convinced them to put me out into the big wide world to see if that developed my skills any. So I took my healing abilities, and my sword-smashing abilities, and started wandering. Now that I’ve been away for ten years, I want to go back and see what they think. Probably not good enough, but even since I met you I’ve improved! Speaking of which, I want to play serious hide-and-seek today.”
Illinia blinked. “I don’t understand.”
“Oh, well, I hide, and you try to spot me, and then we trade places. You’ll win, of course, but it’s good practice for my elf-abilities!”
“You do seem to be a bit more light-footed than the men in our group,” Illinia said, which made Mira light up with smiles. “Kellan is pretty nimble, but he said he’s a sirkus performer, so I suppose that comes with the territory…”
“Yeah. I never saw the circus. I wonder what it’s like? Maybe I should join one next, haha!”
“But you’re looking for your adopted parents? Are they hard to find?”
“Well, no, just every time I end up pointed at Undilwin, I end up getting sidetracked for like three years. It’s annoying!”
“You’re annoying,” Kellan mumbled. “Need coffee.”
“We don’t have coffee, silly,” Mira said. “But I guess I can shut up for a few minutes. Good morning, Kellan.”

That day they travelled until night, and stopped in the evening for food, though not for rest. Mira had managed to improvise a little wooden box lined with fur for her egg, and carried it tenderly in her arms most of the day.
“We’ll be there in an hour or two,” Mira said. “But I really can’t go on without food right now! I’m so hungry! Man, I wish I was an elf.”
Illinia nodded, sympathizing. It was not nice to be hungry for too long. The elf comment took her by surprise; she often forgot that technically she was capable of going without food for longer than her companions.
They were half-done cooking when they heard a low growl in the forest around them, a menacing growl that was taken up in all directions. They froze and looked around.
“What was that?” Mira breathed.
Torrigan began strapping his greaves back on. “Not good, whatever it was.” He had only just started taking off his armour, so that was all he had to put back on.
Kellan twitched where he sat tending the fire and the cooking food. “Why do we have to get attacked now? What a pain! I’m not going anywhere. You guys take care of it, all right?”
“I don’t think we’ll be able to do it without you,” Illinia said, her voice trembling. “There are so many! What are they?”
They were animals the likes of which she had never seen before; they oozed with slime and mud so that she could hardly make out which end was the head. They seemed to be vaguely bipedal, but with large hulking shoulders.
Mira spat out a word Illinia had never heard before, presumably the name of the creatures. “What are they doing on the main road? They’re supposed to live in the deepest darkest swamps and the backs of slimy caves.”
“I think we found out why trade from Thaxted stopped,” Torrigan said, slamming his shield into one of them and following it up with a short, sharp thrust of his sword. “I wonder if this is what Aleic the Wise went to look into.”
“I am sooo hungry, but these things are making me lose my appetite,” Mira complained. “Let’s just retreat to Thaxted.”
“Good plan,” Kellan said. “Hey!” He turned and stabbed one in the chest with his instantly-drawn rapier. “Don’t spill the food, buddy!”
The creature grinned at him, seemingly unfazed by the sword in its chest.
Illinia screamed – quietly – and shot an arrow into its skull. Now it fell, thumping into the fire and splattering mud everywhere. Kellan barked in annoyance – his pants were muddy now. He had saved the half-cooked food, and was wrapping it up as quickly as he could.
“There’s not that many,” Torrigan said, bashing another in the head with both sword and shield until it lay still, its head pretty much unrecognizable as a head. “There’s only… five more.”
“But I’m not hungry anymore,” Mira wailed.
“That’s all right,” Illinia said softly. “It’ll let us catch our breath.”
Kellan hacked at one with one of his many extra daggers until it collapsed; he sprang away nimbly and avoided the mud this time.
Mira growled back at the creature she was facing. “By all the stars and suns! You’ll wish you’d never bothered me!” And she sliced its head off with one stroke. “Is that all? Because I’m still hungry and we’re still an hour away from town. Let’s go!”
They marched until they could see the walls in the distance. It was a medium-sized city, very square, with wide open bare plains on the west and a rocky forest on the east. Behind it, to the north, there was another mountain range.
“Well, there’s Thaxted,” Kellan said. “Would you wait a moment, please? I have an idea.”
They stopped and watched him as he rummaged around in his pack, drawing out cloth and odd accoutrements, and putting some of them on.
When he was done, he was dressed in a white and yellow robe, with a very strange pointy hat on his head and a golden medallion hanging off his neck down to the centre of his chest.
They stared. “What are you supposed to be?” Illinia asked curiously.
“I think we’d gain access to the city much better if we were travelling with a Bishop of Pelor, wouldn’t we?” Kellan said cheerfully.
Torrigan’s face darkened. Illinia shivered. He looked angry, although one corner of his mouth was twitching as if he was desperately holding back a laugh. But he looked angry.
“Um.” Mira’s face was almost as irritated. “In case I need to iterate it AGAIN, you’re travelling with a Paladin of Pelor AND a Cleric. How by all the gods did you think you were getting away with that one?”
Kellan shrugged, an uneasy grin on his face. “I… thought the ends might justify the means?”
“No! Absolutely not!” she lectured, shaking her finger in his face. “Now you take that off right now before I-“
Kellan made a move to take the things off, and then turned and bolted, his tall figure helping him greatly to escape down the road before Torrigan or Mira could react.
“Hey! Come back!” Mira cried, chasing him down the road.
Illinia could hold back her giggles no longer, and as the three humans raced down the road towards the castle, she followed with her hawk and the egg-box, peals of laughter ringing out behind them.
They came to the gate of the city and found it heavily barricaded. Kellan pounded on it rather desperately. “Help! Help!”
“What’s the matter, sir?” asked the guards, immediately popping up from behind the wooden barricade.
“I’m being attacked by my companions! Please let me in before we all get eaten by the creatures in the swamp!”
“Er.” One of them looked ready to laugh as well.
“Who are you, sir?” asked the first one, courteously.
“I… I’m…” Kellan stammered, before drawing himself up proudly. “I am Derek Stanyer!”
Torrigan and Mira halted in their pursuit, identical expressions of dumbfounded shock, horror, disbelief, and suppressed laughter on their faces.
Illinia could not help herself, and paused behind a tree to finish laughing. It didn’t take her too long, and came hurrying up just in time to be let in with the others.
“Really?” Torrigan hissed to Kellan. “Derek Stanyer? Who’s Derek Stanyer? Not the blacksmith?”
“I don’t know,” Kellan whispered back. “I didn’t want to give my real name! I just grabbed that one out of the air! I think I heard that name mentioned somewhere. It’s not the blacksmith.”
Torrigan rolled his eyes heavenward, asking his god for patience.
“Why don’t you want to give your real name?” Mira asked suspiciously. “Have you been here before? Afraid you might be traced?”
“Well,” Kellan murmured. “I don’t like going into cities with my real name. Once inside I can use my real name. But I’m just cautious, that’s all! You don’t know what border guards might do with your name!”
“Oh, really?” She did not appear convinced.
“So what are you here for?” asked the guard, coming back from the barricade to open the inner gate for them. “Besides escaping from the swamp-monsters.”
“We’re here to investigate the lack of trade going south, and also to see Aleic the Wise. We were told we might find him here.”
The guard grimaced. “You might. Look, go see David. He’s the captain of the guard. You’ll find him in the chief guardhouse; it’s in the main street, you can’t miss it.”
“Thank you for your assistance,” Torrigan said. “We shall certainly do that.”
The guardhouse was indeed difficult to miss, with a sign comprising a halberd and a shield outside. They walked in, and the captain rose to greet them.
“Good evening! What can I do for you?” he asked, and then caught sight of Illinia, who was looking around curiously. She turned to look at him and found him staring, and she could only stare herself, for this man was half-elven in a way she’d never seen before. The elves of this land, she decided, must be considerably more exotic looking than in Middle-Earth, for he had a human build but delicate, slanted, pointed features and hair that shimmered beyond that of normal humans in this land.
“You are David?” Mira asked. “Look, we’re travellers from the south, and we’re… well, we’re looking for Aleic the Wise. Is he here?”
David tore his eyes away from Illinia and back to Mira. “Yes, he is. But things aren’t so easy. Shall we go sit down somewhere? It’s a bit of a story.”
“That sounds like a fantastic idea,” Mira said, prodding her empty stomach.
He took them to the closest tavern and ordered ‘the usual’ as they sat down. Mira asked for a whole chicken and beer; Torrigan asked for steak and potatoes and water; Kellan asked for a blue-cheese salad with apples and ale; and Illinia asked for bread and wine. The very friendly waitress brought it all with alacrity. Kellan squirmed until Mira threatened to chain him to the chair. He snarked back at her that it wouldn’t be any trouble to slip out of a chain, but sat more quietly.
“So,” David began, speaking mostly to Mira – apparently he thought she was the leader of their group. “We’ve been having a series of problems. First… we had a plague in the southern quarter a couple months ago. A month ago, the nobles barricaded themselves in the northern quarter and refused to let anyone in or out. It’s a mystery as to what they’re doing in there, but we’ve just left them to their own devices. We’re far more concerned about the poor in the southern quarter, anyway.”
“What kind of plague was it?” Mira asked, feeding bits of her chicken to Illinia’s hawk.
“That’s just it – we don’t know. People started getting sick, and we don’t think any of them have died… but they are certainly lifeless and diseased looking. We’ve barricaded them in; we don’t want that coming out into the rest of the city. Aleic the Wise went in there to help before we put up the barricades, and we haven’t seen him since.”
“Oh dear,” Torrigan said. “Well, that explains our problems!”
“That doesn’t explain the swamp monsters,” Kellan said.
David nodded. “They started getting more vicious about the same time. We thought it might be something in the water, so we’ve been boiling all the water we use. But if you have anything that can help us, we’d be most grateful.”
Illinia kept her eyes on her food, and missed how he tried to smile at her. Unable to smile at her, he gave his smile to Mira instead.
“Yes,” Torrigan mused. “We’d love to help. But we have no idea how. We’d have to talk to Aleic to find out, I think.”
David’s face fell. “Then you’d have to go into the plague quarter, and we can’t let you back out again. And we haven’t heard anything from him since he went in.”
“We’ll handle it,” Torrigan said. “We work well together. If we can at least find him, perhaps we can shout to you what is needed over the barricade.”
David nodded. “We could make that work. But you won’t go in until tomorrow, of course? You’ll stay and rest the night?”
Mira nodded. “Yes, I’d like that. Guys?”
Kellan nodded, his mouth full of ale. Torrigan nodded more calmly, and Illinia nodded almost imperceptibly.
“Also, if we could arrange a room at the inn for some of our stuff while we’re gone,” Mira said, “I’d appreciate it, because I have this gryphon egg that I want to hatch, and I don’t think it would be a good idea to take it with me into a plague area.”
David nodded. “Most certainly that can be arranged. I’ll even pay for it myself.”
“No need,” Torrigan said. “We have plenty for rooms. Don’t trouble yourself.”
David shrugged. “If that is the way you want it. I can at least arrange you a discount, though. Now, tell me, what is the news from the south?”
They told him of the werewolf, and how they saved the blacksmith at the cost of the councillor. He listened carefully. “The council here will be most interested in that. Thank you for telling me.”
As Mira and Torrigan arranged the rooms, and Kellan slipped off somewhere, Illinia went out to the street for some more fresh air (the air in the tavern was a little close for her) and found David beside her.
“Good evening, miss. You were very quiet. I hope I didn’t offend you.”
“Oh, n-no, not at all,” Illinia managed to stammer out, blushing.
He smiled, a very charismatic smile. “I’m glad of that, then. What’s your name again? I don’t think your group introduced you.
“I-Illinia…”
“Illinia. What a pretty name. We get elves here, but not too often, and not recently. What is it that brings you here with the others?”
“Well… Th-they seem to know where they’re going, and so I follow them…”
“But what about yourself? How are the elven nations?”
“I-I really couldn’t say… I haven’t been there ye- er, recently.”
He nodded understandingly. “I know what you mean. My father is an elf, and he spends a great deal of his time wandering the world. He visits now and again, and tells me what he’s been doing… But what are you doing? I really would like to know.” He flashed her that smile again.
She twisted her hands together, flustered. “I- well, it’s a long story… but- I- that is… I’m looking for my husband. He disappeared some years ago… But I know he’s still alive. So I need to find him.”
David nodded, though she thought she could sense some disappointment in his movement. “You’re a very dedicated woman, ma’am. I hope I am lucky enough to marry a woman with your devotion.”
She shrugged awkwardly. “I-it’s all I can do… I hope you are lucky in marriage, too!”
He put one hand on her shoulder. “I was wondering, though, if you were lonely… if you wanted company… even just to talk to…”
The hand made her flinch, but she didn’t dare move. “I-I’m all right… Mira is good company. She wants to be an elf… it’s very flattering how sh-she looks up to me. But if y-you are saying y-you a-are lonely…”
“Well, yes… I am, a bit. I really would like to get to know you better, Miss Illinia.”
She looked at the ground, dirty cobblestones scattered with hay and horse dung, and hoped desperately that she didn’t break this boy’s heart.
“Illinia!” Mira came out as David took his hand from her shoulder again. “There you are! Come see our room, it’s really big.”
David nodded. “I hope it will suit. Miss Mira, if you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask me.”
“Yes,” Mira said cheerfully, and dragged Illinia inside by the hand.
When they got to the room, Illinia found herself cornered. “What was that all about?”
Illinia gaped blankly. “What was… what…?”
“You talking to him. He was standing awfully close to you! Was he hitting on you?” Mira began taking off her heavy armour.
“Hitting…?”
“Flirting. Asking you out. Asking you over. Asking if you’d share his b-“
“Oh!” Illinia blushed as red as her dress. “N-n- well, yes, just if I was lonely and wanted someone to talk to. I said I had you, but I asked if he was lonely and he said yes…”
“Humph,” Mira huffed, crossing her arms. “I’m sure he is.” Then she sighed and smiled. “He’s pretty dreamy, isn’t he?”
“Wh-wh-wha…!” Illinia was flatfooted. “I… I guess? You do know I’m married, right?”
“Yes, but- wait, you’re married?”
“Y-yes…”
“I so did not know that!” She thought for a bit. “Did I? Well, if I did, I forgot. I know now, right? Anyway, but that doesn’t mean you can’t think David’s dreamy, right?”
“Actually…”
“Oh, come on. Well, I think he’s dreamy. I wonder if he’ll hit on me? What do elves do when flirting?”
“I-I-I really don’t know! Certainly not in these parts! But you should just go talk to him. Although…”
“Although?”
“I… ah… thought you liked… er… Torrigan.”
Mira laughed. “Yes, Torrigan’s handsome, and his goals fit into mine, and he’s surprisingly a paladin without a stick up his butt, but… just… David! Dreamy!”
“Okay, okay! Well, go talk to him! Ask if he knows any gryphon trainers, or something.”
“Oh! Perfect! I’ll be back, or not, as the case may be. Have a good night!” And Mira was gone, red braid flipping behind her.
She was back in a couple hours, slightly tipsy. “Well, that was fun.”
“What happened?” Illinia asked in some concern.
“We went out for drinks! Clerics are allowed to drink if we want. Not too much. I don’t think I had too much. It was fun. He’s sooo cuuuute.”
Illinia giggled. “That sounds nice.”
“He flirted with me. He even gave me a hug. Now my stomach is full of fuzzies.” The girl shook her head to clear it. “Or maybe that’s just the wine.”
“Oh dear, I hope it’s the flirting…”
“You’re so adorable, Illinia,” Mira slurred, and fell into bed and began to snore.
Illinia chuckled in bemusement for a while, then covered Mira with a blanket and got into her own bed.

The next day, they got up early. Mira didn’t seem to have a hangover, and in fact was perfectly chipper, as far as Illinia could tell. She whispered “I’ll tell you more, now that my head’s clear, but later,” in the elf’s ear as they went down for breakfast.
After breakfast, David himself led them to the southern quarter barricade, not without some regret. “I’m sorry you four are going in… I hope you come out again alive.”
“So do we,” Kellan grunted.
“Do not worry,” Torrigan said. “We will succeed one way or another. Farewell!”
“It’s I should be bidding you farewell,” David said ruefully. “Good fortune!” He bowed to the women. Illinia blushed, but tried not to look away – it would be rude.
The guards opened the gate, and they walked through. They heard it shut behind them, and the fastening of the barricade. They were trapped in this place.
They walked forward. It looked pretty deserted so far.
Then there was a shriek to their left. “Who are you?”
They turned to see a dishevelled old woman leaning out the window. “We are here to help,” Torrigan said. “How may we help?”
The old woman calmed down a bit. “Have you seen the old sage yet?”
“No. Can you tell us where he is?”
She thought. “He’ll be at the chapel. Just avoid the plaguewalkers. Go by the back streets, where they’re less likely to gather.”
“What are plaguewalkers?” Kellan asked.
Instead of answering, the woman screamed again and slammed the shutters of her window.
They looked at each other, confused, and then looked behind them and stiffened. Shuffling towards them were people, people with grey skin and black eyes. They were dressed in ordinary clothing, some of it brightly coloured as anyone’s might be, although it was dirty and dusty as if they had just rolled in the road.
“Do you think they mean to attack?” Torrigan asked, hefting his shield. “I don’t think we should hurt them…”
“They look like zombies to me,” Kellan said. “Zombies are fair game.”
“No they’re not,” Torrigan argued. “Not if they might still be alive.”
“You don’t know that,” Kellan said.
“Actually, I’m getting a funny feeling from them too,” Mira said. “I don’t think they’re dead. So don’t kill them!”
Then the people ran towards them, their arms outstretched and clawing.
“Huh,” Kellan said. “You think that’s easy?”
“Easier said than done, but do it anyway,” Torrigan ordered. “Come on. Let’s go by the back way.”
“How do you know where you’re going?” Kellan asked, awkwardly parrying grey-skinned hands.
“I looked at a map,” the paladin answered, beating them off with his shield.
Illinia had no shield; she used her knife, since she was less likely to kill anyone that way. And she kept her back close to the silver-armoured paladin. But she was getting extremely nervous – these people might have been civilians in normal life, but they seemed to have the knowledge to kill her if she let them.
Torrigan, mindful of her small form at his back, moved cautiously to the nearby buildings. When they reached it, they turned and ran, following the loudly clanking knight. The people behind them weren’t too slow, either.
Illinia gritted her teeth. She had no idea where they were going, but she hoped they’d get there in time… One of them tried to trip Kellan, and he leapt nimbly over their arms and kicked them in the face.
“There!” Torrigan cried, pointing at a marble structure with boarded up windows. “I don’t know how to get in, but that’s our destination.”
“All right!” Mira said. “Hey, anyone home?”
The groans of the plaguewalkers was her only answer.
“Hey!” she shouted, even louder. “We could use some assistance out here, Aleic, if you’re even still alive!”
“All right!” someone hissed from nearby. “Stop shouting! It’ll just attract more!”
“Oh!” Mira said, startled, and stopped. “Where are you?”
“Come quickly!” A board in the nearby building shifted, and an old man in brown robes, with a long white beard, beckoned them inside.
They tumbled inside, panting, and the old man shut the door behind them. He picked up a lantern and led them along a narrow passage. “Quietly, now. They don’t know where the door is yet.”
Torrigan nodded and moved as quietly as his armour would let him.
They passed through a marble archway and found themselves inside the chapel. The windows were carefully covered with nailed-on boards, and light came from only the dome in the roof.
A woman with chin-length black hair and a plain white robe sat in the centre of the chapel, apparently praying. When the old man entered, she got up and came towards them.
“Lina, these are the heroes who have come to help us,” the old man said. “Heroes, I am Aleic, whom some call The Wise, and this is Lina, the cleric of this chapel.” The woman bowed to them with a pleasant smile.
“I am Torrigan, and this is Mira and Kellan and Illinia,” Torrigan introduced them. “We are indeed here to help you. How did you know?”
“I bet that’s why they call you the Wise,” Kellan said.
Aleic nodded with a half-smile. “Perhaps. I can see some things normal people cannot.”
“How can we be of service?” Torrigan asked. “We really do not know how to help, and no one will be let out into the rest of town – though if you could tell us what you need, we could go and tell the captain of the guard and he will help in any way he can.”
“Well, let me start at the beginning,” Aleic said. “You see, this plague began a couple of months ago, but no one thought much of it until they began to turn grey. That was when we were barricaded in. By my research, this plague is caused by some corrupt artefact contained within this section of the city, possibly near the fountain, and the best way to purify it would be to sprinkle it with holy Elven water.”
“Ooh!” Mira cried. “How do we get that?”
Aleic turned to her. “Not by being an elf, my dear young lady. I have been trying to remember where the closest place is one can find a thing like that, and I think I know where you should look. Outside the city, about a day’s journey west, there is an ancient Dwarven fortress. Once upon a time, those Dwarves were friendly with Elves, and they will almost certainly retain some artefact within their fortress. The fortress has been in ruins for centuries, but I still think you will find something.”
Torrigan nodded. “There is only one problem. How will we get out of the city?”
“Ah, that is no problem. There is a secret gate in the west wall. Did you think I would try to send you back out into the city? No, they would be too afraid.”
“If you know about the secret gate and everything,” Kellan said suspiciously, “how come you haven’t gone yourself?”
Aleic sighed. “I am old, and my power is needed here to stall the plague as long as possible. The evil power is growing, and soon it will spread to the rest of the town, whether it is barricaded or not. I cannot go, and not alone. Nor can Lina go. I need her. She will show you where the gate is, though.”
The woman nodded. “If you are rested, I can take you immediately.”
“Yes, immediately is good,” Torrigan said. “The sooner we can break the curse, the better.”
“And the sooner to getting good treasure,” Kellan said to himself. “Ancient Dwarven fortress, eh?”
Mira swatted him. “Respect the old places!”
“I will! But you can’t just leave that stuff lying around unused! That would be bad!”
Illinia giggled. “Kellan, I’m sure there will be something for you without disturbing anyone.”
“Thanks, Illi.” Kellan glared at the other two. “At least someone understands me.”
“I don’t understand you at all!” she protested. “I just… I hope there is something! Because I don’t want you to get in trouble!”
“To get in trouble?” Kellan snorted. “What are you, twelve?”
She hesitated, and then put on her best child-like smile. “Yes!”
Kellan rolled his eyes and went to stand on the other side of the circle of conversation.
“It’s all right, Illinia!” Mira chirped. “I’m your friend even if that nasty clown doesn’t want to be!”
Illinia shrugged, quite embarrassed. “I’m ready to go…”
“Then good luck,” Aleic said. “Return as swiftly as you may. The darkness is growing strong.”
“We will,” Torrigan assured him.
“Follow me,” Lina said to them, her eyes travelling over them, and lingering on Illinia with curiousity.
They left out a different secret door in the chapel, and found the same plaguewalkers waiting for them. With a howl, the creatures dove at them.

Chapter 7