WARNING! #107

All of you are glad you made this decision to talk with the Captain. You leave the human camp feeling full, refreshed and satisfied. You have done your duty. Dorbane laughs with Valda, teasing her about sipping wine when fine ale is available. Aggie looks content, too, though she keeps looking back, over her shoulder.   “Something wrong?” you ask her.   “I’m…not sure,” she replies. You follow her line of sight, but there are so many people—the sounds of horses, clanging of blacksmiths hammers, soldiers laughing and shouting around you. The smell of leather, meats and sweat are overpowering. Sweat trickles down your brow. Your stomach turns and you suddenly feel the urge to vomit.   You stumble and collapse.   The sounds echo, drawn out…as if in a tunnel. Darkness creeps in from your peripheral vision…until everything goes black.       You wake up cold and shivering.   Blinking your eyes, you roll your head over the cool patch of ground. You hear crickets. You blink again. Stars overhead, two moons in the sky, the limbs of trees swaying over you as if concerned.   You’re in a forest.   As your eyes adjust, you notice the bodies of Valda and Dorbane next to you, still unconscious.   “Good,” comes a voice, “you’re awake.”   You sit up with a start, then regret it. Your head nearly splits open, the pounding is so loud. A moan escapes your lips as you slowly sink backward, letting your head rest in the grass and weeds.   “Yes, I’d move slowly if I were you,” says the voice. A medium sized figure sits next to a small fire crackling nearby. “That’s the danger of using Lakemoore Leaf. Only the most skilled alchemists can utilize the right dosage to knock you out…instead of causing your heart to stop.”   The shifts to look at you, but the glow of the fire casts a shadow across his face. You can’t make out any features.   “Your friends will be out a bit longer,” he continues, “so we can have a short chat, before they wake. You looked like the one in charge, when talking with that moron, Toma.”   You try quickly to recall who was in the tent with you, what the guards looked like, but you can’t remember anything. Then you glance around. Where’s Aggie?   “She’s safe,” the faceless figure says calmly. “She was seen by too many who know her. It was too dangerous to take her…for now. However,” he says in a pointed way, “should you decide to go back to Andilain and poke your nose where it doesn’t belong…well.” Lifting a stick from the fire, the burning embers glowing in the night air. “Let’s just say her end will be rather painful, dramatic and…exquisite.”   You can’t think of anything to say.   “Toma is a fool…and he doesn’t know what’s transpiring under his nose. You dispatched my men, which is unfortunate…but not unforeseen.”   The figure stands up and takes a step closer.   “We are many and we will not be stopped. So take a hint. Your lives have been spared…this once.”     THE END