No Rest for the Weary

Time continued to pass as we waited in the extradimensional hiding place. Duraz distracted Fern while I looked through the only viewpoint, blocking what I could with my cloak. She didn’t need to see the bug things… feasting. It is hard to say if they were bugs or reptiles, honestly. They seemed to have features of both. They communicated with taps, hisses, chitters, and vibration. Their limbs all were sharp for piercing, and their mandibles were strong enough to bite straight through rock. Interestingly, something about their own dead seemed to repel them a little. In hindsight, I wish there had been a way to use that to our advantage. Fern also indicated that they came from underground, which made sense as I observed their movements.
 
While Duraz tried to hold Fern’s attention (I may have lobbed in a statement about Duraz’s recent marriage, too), I watched as flowers bloomed in the gaps of the rocks that formed both A and O’s tombs. Four small creatures were interested in getting into one of the tombs⁠—no doubt to eat the spoils of their recent kills⁠—and I watched one bite through stone like bread. Horrifying.
 
Around us, the sky grew ominous, and lightning split the sky as huge drops of rain began to fall. The thunder shook us, even in the extradimensional space, and I was struck again⁠—as I sat in armor made of its skin⁠—how the dragon and its death continued to impact the land. The creatures got through the stones and began to chomp at one of the bodies. I don’t know if I’ve been desensitized from the gruesome reality I once faced or if this was particularly bad, but either way, I felt my stomach turn as I heard the Firbolg femur crack in the jaws of one of the wretched beasts. Blood mixed with the rain and mud, forming a dark, sickening paste that lingered around the creatures.
 
They seemed to struggle after the first morsel, though. Thick vines wrapped around the body, encasing it, and flowers bloomed all over it. Despite the fact they could easily eat through stone, the creatures struggled with the vines. Lurra clearly was protecting them. I remember thinking that sparing Fern the sight was also wise⁠—Lurra’s Chosen could hold it together if she didn’t have to see their bodies desecrated. It was only a matter of time until we made it back to Waterdeep or all died in this unnamed spot. We could keep our wits about us until one of the two happened. Beyond A’s grave, the same happened around O.
 
The relief of this realization was short lived, because more of the creatures emerged. These four, unlike the first four, were bigger. Even from off the ground itself, I felt a vibration and watched a chasm appear on the side of the hill farthest from us. These creatures seemed to have been in a tunnel that was collapsing or collapsed. The landscape around us was changing, too. Trees withered and died, turning to ash within an impossibly short amount of time, and the storm raged on. In a clearing area near us lay the bodies of eight of the smallest versions of the creatures⁠—I think Fern and her kids killed them all, and probably more. I hollowly thought to myself that at least they had died an honorable death, fighting and on a mission.
 
Sitting briefly in the stillness, I calculated our odds. They weren’t good. It briefly crossed my mind that I could just escape and save myself, should it come to that, but it was fleeting. I’m not built like that.
 
As she spoke about the creatures, I looked back at Fern. She looked very bad, and so I wordlessly reached out and gave her some healing magic. I hoped it would be enough.
 
In the distance, I saw the rest of the group arriving. I felt the magic fading faster than they appeared to be traveling. I warned Fern and Duraz that the spell was failing and suggested they climb out quickly, and I brought forth the wings of the cloak Rue had given me. I didn’t want to be on the ground.
 
Immediately one of the creatures shrieked at Fern and Duraz and sprayed acid on them. I hadn’t expected to feel guilty about staying in the sky so soon, but as I watched them burn from the acid, it set in. There was barely time to consider this, though, before the ground beneath me erupted, creating treacherous terrain all around them both. I took two shots at the large one, and my fears about their natural armor were confirmed as one of my arrows glanced off entirely. It took what felt like forever for the others to get to us, but swiftly they came and joined the fray. There was more acid, the various sounds of weapons against reptilian exoskeleton, cries… and then one got Fern, pulled her underground, and the world went still.
 
I should have healed her more. I should have burned the last of my energy reserves if that was what it took to keep her alive. I should have spent those seconds of fighting instead focusing on healing her. I should have prayed to Lurra if that was what it took.
 
Instead, I did none of those things, and in that moment, the silence swept the landscape before a percussive shockwave of radiant energy pulsed out from underground. I watched everyone and everything within about twenty feet of that point of origin get swept up in radiant energy. Duraz was not well off, and he fell as a result of this energy. The vines that had been protecting A and O shot up in an angry, offensive way. They writhed and twisted around any creatures nearby, holding them in place. Flowers had begun to bloom around Duraz, and small plants had even begun to sprout on my bow. I felt a surge of power, but at the same time, I felt unmoored. No, not unmoored, completely untethered. Disconnected from Xotera. Even from the sky, I felt like I was losing my footing. Like I could fall into the ethereal but not be able to come back.
 
I could barely breathe as I grappled with the unfamiliar, terrifying sensation, and all I knew in that moment was that I had to get to Duraz. I wasn’t even sure he was alive. In that moment, it was like someone put the thought in my brain that I cannot exist without Duraz, and probably the reverse as well. Why had I not read anything before about horizon walkers requiring an anchor to the prime? I tried to grab the fabric of the border between us and the ethereal, and my hand slipped through. I was in incredible danger, and so was Duraz.
 
A ruby red glow began to emanate from between the flowers and vines covering Duraz. The light pulsed and began to burn through the plants. It seemed the stone he carried was burning white hot, like magma. It was overwhelming, and I started to feel like I was falling⁠—literally and within myself⁠—before something caught. I still felt sick. An intense gravity effect began with Duraz at the epicenter, and though it didn’t impede my movement, it caused even more chaos on this battlefield. I went straight to Duraz, my mind racing. I am no cleric. What was I going to be able to even do? Almost subconsciously, I reached into my bag and willed my hand to find the jar of pixie dust my friends have given to me way back when Rue and I were in the Feywild. I sprinkled him with it and mentally beseeched the entire pantheon⁠—anyone not evil⁠—to intervene. The Heart of Xotera being lost would signal the beginning of the end for far more than me. This planet, for better or worse, sits at the center of the universe. The gods would suffer his loss, too.
 
The pixie dust, Lurra’s vines, and the red light of Duraz’s stone seemed to somehow combine, but I watched as his skin also started to become translucent like glass fish. I reached back into my bag and brought out meditation crystals from Viden, placing them on Duraz both because the man likes rocks and because I desperately needed Oghma in that moment. I folded the wings to try to offer some protection and dignity to Duraz’s body and I willed the universe to yield the outcome I needed. We needed.
 
It is therefore understandable why I didn’t realize Brenri was barreling toward me. She unceremoniously shoved me aside and (quite aggressively) pounded a diamond into Duraz’s chest. I bristled a bit as her complete disregard for anything I had done, but as I scooped up my crystals and backed away, I heard Oghma’s voice in my mind say: “Convince him he must search every book of every library in order to find what he seeks.” He wouldn’t have given me such a jovial missive if Duraz was lost. Still, the knot stayed in my chest until I saw Duraz draw breath again. The sensation of being untethered lessened considerably, but I subconsciously couldn’t let go of it entirely.
 
We continued the conflict with the creatures, but eventually we won, if that’s what you can call it. Fern was… in pieces, held together by vines from Lurra one again. The vines around the three firbolgs shifted after a brief minute, forming distinct sarcophagi around their bodies⁠—an ominous sign. I kept my thoughts to myself, but the goddess of life and living things would not fashion a final resting place for beings who wanted to come back…
 
We loaded the bodies into the portable hole, and in doing so and preparing to leave, we realized Blackthorne had also been stabbed repeatedly by the creatures. He was breathing, but faintly. Healing magic took care of his wounds, but where we expected to find scars we instead found strange necrotic patterns. And looking at his face was odd. There were glimmers of what seemed like a mask and then a child. I glanced at him once and I would have sworn upon everything in creation that I had seen the image of Pech… Regardless of what I did or didn’t see, Blackthorne really didn’t look right, even for him.
 
Brenri cast a spell to divinely sense evil and goodness. She informed us we were a weird, complicated group, because:

• Blackthorne was mostly evil with good inside it.


• Seksgar was mostly good with evil inside it.


• Roscoe’s shadow gave her a hand gesture instead of him having an aura.


• Duraz had absolutely no aura at all⁠—it was a void.


• I had no aura, but apparently a halo above me?

 
We debated what to do with the cargo Fern previously carried (and ultimately we put it in an arguably quite safe place), and then had a discussion about whether Duraz dying nullified or ended his marriage. The tizzy this caused was significant, though. Dalen did not want Brida going with us to Waterdeep at all. There was debate about the mission, what made most sense, and what was even true under dwarven law. The debate lasted the entire journey to the teleportation site. Despite contacting Duraz’s mother and Bruldenthar, we were no closer to an answer.
 
The Cofre dwarves set up an interesting device that, when combined with something embedded in the stone here and the hilts of their weapons, activated a temporary teleportation circle. Brenri and Ruggam were ready to leave, and Brida made Duraz make the call in the seconds we had before the spell went off. He told her to stay, and she did. In her face, I deduced many things, but especially that she wanted to choose to show up to Waterdeep on her own terms rather than arriving on the defensive.
 
And like that, we were in Blackstaff Tower. Behind a door to my side, I heard the unmistakable cacophony of Force Grey, and my heart leapt, though I kept myself in the discussion in my immediate surroundings. The party seemed unsure what to do from here. Behind the door, Vajra’s voice said, “Small one, bring your friend. You have an interest in our visitors.” I knew then that there was no secret we were here, either. I had been inching toward the door, itching to open it and look for Rue, but before I could, the door swung open with purpose and there he stood before me. He scooped me up and we held each other as tightly as we could. Letting go of him was hard. He kissed my forehead and we shared a fleeting glance between us before he put me down.
 
And then, as usual, the moment was shattered by the chaos of this group. Roscoe tried to sneak out invisibly, but Rue caught him. There was a totally unnecessary exchange about rings and marriage. And then I saw Rue counting people and noticing absences, asking if they were coming later. I’m sure he could read my expression, but I didn’t get time to reply before Mae burst in, followed by a tiny aarakocra in deep, cool tones. It had a sort of chaotic look to it, almost childlike in presentation, and it went straight for Duraz and played with the plane traveling amulet he wore. The aarakocra’s name turned out to be Krey.
 
Mae greeted Roscoe, and I realized that we had a lot of explaining ahead of us. Then Krey looked at Seksgar and the room began to snow. Krey flew to Rue’s shoulder⁠—this was a comfortable maneuver, and it was clear to me that this was not the first time. Rue asked the small one to keep the room safe and run security for the conference room. Mae and Krey seemed accustomed to this, too.
 
Saxon and Raven joined us in this conference room discussion. Duraz unceremoniously told the bare minimum of what happened, and I backtracked to better describe not only the sequence of events, but the the exact nature of Lurra’s divine actions on the battlefield to put it into perspective. Saxon took the hole from Roscoe and pocketed it, intending to transport the firbolgs’ bodies back to the family. My heart ached for Rue as he told us very professionally that we had done what we could in our circumstances and the temple would fix the situation. It then intensified the pain to read in his features that he was suppressing the urge to fixate on me and how I was. And then the third stab to my heart was seeing clearly that he knew his sister and her children were not coming back.
 
Slowly, methodically, and in reverse-chronological order, we hashed everything out, all the way to the crystal forest days. Rue paused the discussion then and brought Mae and Krey back into the room. Krey fluttered around, adorably unprofessional about it. She was now fascinated with Roscoe’s hood and the shining eyes that adorned it. Keenor chose now to emerge from my bag, and there was a bizarre bird-to-bird moment between the pair before Krey shot some electricity at Keenor, and Keenor responded by letting out a sharp psychic screech, making everyone in the room flinch.
 
Mae told us she had met Halete and was studying with her, at Galdur. Mae seemingly loved the crystal forest, and she told us several other things in quick succession, but my mind was reeling from the new information, and I missed some of it. Before I could finish processing that information, Krey started pecking at Duraz’s stone, he protested, and he was fire bolted before being turned into sheep, upon which Krey promptly sat. At the same time, the group tried to explain to Mae that this Roscoe was not the Roscoe she knew.
 
In all the above chaos, Rue came to sit next to me and watch the lunacy unfold while holding my hand, under the table to pretend we were still being professional about it. He was silent a while, and though neither of us was looking at the other, a lot of our attention was on the simple physical connection. He squeezed my hand a bit, and I ran my thumb back and forth against his skin. We had a lot we needed to talk about. A lot.
 
Rue then spoke, interrupting everything in his commanding way, and he instructed Mae to un-sheep Duraz, which she did, without issue. I need to tell her I am proud of her. After this, Mae told us about Mipp and Tantras. She also mentioned helping Selma a bit, but the discussion got derailed by Roscoe asking how much Tantras would pay us. And then even that got derailed when Krey smelled Duraz and said, “dead.” She then seemed to be planning to use some alchemists’ fire on him, like you would if you wanted to truly end something dead. She then came to me and smelled as well, less confidently asking rather than stating, “dead?” This caused Duraz to double down on his insistence that I was only briefly incapacitated. Krey also said that Seksgar was “not whole” and Blackthorne was “not here.” I want to follow up on what she is, where she comes from, and how she could know these things from smell.
 
As we transitioned out and toward a portal, Duraz wanted to go to the tavern, but Force Grey had other plans. I don’t know if Duraz saw it building, but the casual way the entire force surrounded us⁠—especially Duraz⁠—and jockeyed toward the temple clubhouse was not a suggestion. Duraz did try to go the other way, but Farley literally blocked his way at the end. The moment we got to the temple, and therefore out of the purview of the Blackstaff, the mood shifted. I noted that Krey knew how to activate and deactivate the portal.
 
Rue spoke first, essentially telling Duraz he was not honorable or worthy⁠—having failed to protect Fern and me⁠—and taking his Grey Hands insignia bead back. Duraz fired back that Rue himself had also failed, then, since he wasn’t there. I am not sure how that landed. Rue had to leave shortly after, much to my dismay. Others spoke to Duraz, too, and I tried yet again to explain how he hurt Rose and why he shared blame, but he’s Duraz, so… The only thing that really sunk in for Duraz was when Saxon said Rue had had a bad day and to give him some slack, basically. I think Duraz has decided that Rue was out of line, but he will benevolently forgive Rue a bit because of the tragedy, which is not the intended message at all.
 
Duraz reiterated his desire to go to the tavern, and all of Force Grey looked to me for a ruling. I pointed out that Rose had more important things to mourn right now, suggesting Duraz be allowed to leave. From there, the party all drifted in its separate directions. I went to Rue’s room to wait for him, but the door had more wards and protection magic than before, and I got nervous the door might kill me, so I went to find Saxon. In a way, it was an amusing repeat of past events.
 
The entire half of returned Force Grey members was spread out, cleaning gear and maintaining weapons. Mae was in the back, reading a book from Myri on undead, and Krey was doing.. something with her wings tucked awkwardly behind her and tongue out her beak. Knowing Rue wasn’t there, it was easy to get swept up into conversation with Force Grey⁠—we touched on my new armor, what the party had been through since we last met, and what Force Grey had endured in that same time. After a while, though, Saxon asked me again if I wanted to wait in Rue’s room as he casually mentioned there were additional glyphs because of a break in that happened while people were gone. I asked a series of additional questions and felt uneasy about this information, despite the fact that Saxon assured me they had done a thorough sweep and found nothing missing or added.
 
The second I stepped foot into the antechamber office space of Rue’s room, though, I knew how wrong they were. The entirety of that stained glass window⁠—in some ways, the entire reason Rue and I had even become a thing⁠—glowed with the familiar energy of a portal. I asked Saxon if he saw anything about the window, but he did not. I went through the whole song and dance of overly describing it to him, and he said he might see something, but it was hard to tell if he really did or if he was just humoring me. I begrudgingly told him there was a portal, and while I did not know to where, the frequency of its innate vibration sounded bad. Saxon sighed and sounded an alarm, which summoned basically all of Force Grey as well as Holly, Seksgar, Myri, and eventually Roscoe and Duraz, too.
 
Once my news spread, there was some debate about the nature of portals and whether a portal could be dispelled. Seksgar offered to shatter the stained glass, but that wouldn’t have removed the portal. We put up several protective domes (and I saw the wizards’ faces light up as the realized I was handing the planar membrane to people to set up mine) and some people readied spells. I leaned in close to the portal to discern whether it was in front of or behind the glass, and as I did, a red hand reached through the portal and grabbed me by the throat.
 
There was then a flurry of movement. I think Seksgar threw a rock, which simply sailed through the portal. Mae cast a banishing spell, and with the sound of rending flesh, I think the hand was removed entirely. Seksgar rushed at the portal, but without touching me, his punch simply hit the wall, destroying the stained glass entirely. Rue had a similar thought, but having now traveled through portals with me several times, he knew to touch me before reaching through. He dragged a fire djinn back through the portal and, in one fluid motion, pushed me backward fully into my dome while restraining the djinn and throwing the pair of them to the ground, the djinn as his shield, bracing for something. He also called out, “Dispel!” to those who had readied their magics.