Wide-eyed Wanderer
a NWN fanfic
by Meagen
Book 1: Neverwinter
Chapter 3
Amadeus slipped under another attack, paused, then fell back into a
stance. As he began the spell, he could see the other assasin
attacking, and mentally prepared himself for the blow...
...but instead only heard a clash of steel, and then another. He
wasn't quite surprised enough to disturb his concentration, and a
moment later Melf's Acid Arrow hit one of the bandits in the chest.
Amadeus opened his eyes just in time to see Meagen finishing him off.
A few more rapier thursts and one spell later, it was all over.
He released a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.
Then he knelt down hurriedly. "Sharwynn? You're hurt."
"A brilliant observation", she said through clenched teeth. The
dagger had carved a deep gash in her upper left arm, just a few
inches away from her heart. The wound was bleeding heavily despite
her attempts to cover it with her hand.
Daelann pressed a piece of cloth against the cut while Amadeus
looked through his pack for anything that could be used as a bandage.
Meagen turned back from the corpses of their attackers. "I found
something interesting!", she announced, but stopped short when she
noticed the other woman's state.
She hurried to Sharwynn's side and knelt down opposit Amadeus. After
a quick look at the wound, she put her hands together and muttered a
few words.
With a sound like wind in the trees, and a faint blue-greenish
light, the bleeding lessened a bit. Meagen sat back and wiped some
sweat from her brow.
Amadeus raised an eyebrow, but his only comment was "Can you do that
again?"
Meagen shook her head. "I'm not... very good at this", she
explained, drawing a few deep breaths. "I can only do... a little
bit." Before the sorceror could worry about her condition, she stood
up, legs shaking slightly. "Let's get her inside. We can get help
there."
*********************************************************************
"We need a room. In a hurry." Amadeus told the owner of the seedy
inn. The man raised an eyebrow at the colorful and mixed company.
"Right away, sir. Pardon me, but are you that group of adventurers
what have been lookin' for a cure for the Wailing? You think you can
help with our undead problem, too? 'Coz if so, maybe you should know
the rumors goin' round that-"
"I did not ask to hear the Ballad of the Beggar's Nest", Amadeus
snapped. "I asked for a room. Our companion is wounded and needs
rest. We can talk of undead and dark rumors later."
"Yessir. Just a minute, sir." The innkeeper conferred in hushed
voices with a young lad who was obviously his helper. A few minutes
later, he handed Amadeus a key. "Upstairs, first door on the left."
"We need two pails of water and a cup of salt", Meagen informed him
as she passed.
*********************************************************************
Meagen opened the door and went to turn up the lantern, filling the
room with a shaky yellow light. Sharwynn walked in, supported by
Daelan, who helped her to the bed and excused himself. Amadeus
entered last, and found himself on the recieving end of two angry
glares.
"Is there something wrong?", he asked, trying to stay nonchalant.
Meagen pointed at the door. "I need to dress that wound properly",
she said.
"I can help you", he offered. "Sharwynn's health is my great
concern. Besides, I *am* paying for this room."
"I have to clean her wound, and then she needs rest. She'll need to
take her clothes off", Meagen made the point more clear.
Amadeus looked innocent. "So...?"
Meagen's eyebrow twiched.
*********************************************************************
Daelan looked up, somewhat surprised, as Amadeus almost flew out of
the room, barely stopping himself in time to avoid the opposite wall.
The door slammed shut behind him, and there was a click of a key in a
lock.
As the bemused barbarian looked on, Amadeus regained his composure,
brushing off his black robe. "That was not very ladylike!", he called
half-heartedly, then shrugged and headed back downstairs. Shaking his
head, Daelan followed.
Back inside the room, Meagen took a few deep breaths to calm
herself. Sharwynn observed her with a grin.
"Most amusing", she commented. "The two of you could make a good bit
of money with an act like that."
*********************************************************************
"You plan to rub salt in my wounds?", the bard asked some time
later, watching Meagen dissolve the white crystals in one of the
pails of water.
"Unfortunately, yes", Meagen admitted. "We need to clean that cut,
and saltwater is a good disinfecant. Less chance of you catching the
Wailing or some other unpleasantness. Don't worry", she went on with
a grin, "I've done this many times, on myself and others. It won't
hurt as much as it could."
Sharwynn nodded, and lay back with resignation. "Go ahead and use
your barbaric methods, then, if you feel they are necessary."
Meagen dipped a piece of cloth in the water, and squeezed out the
excess. "You seem to know Amadeus pretty well", she observed. "Is he
a friend of yours?"
Sharwynn laughed. "Far from it. We first met no longer than three
days ago, at the Trade of Blades. I was looking for an adventure, and
he for someone to back him up in battle. We struck a deal."
"Oh." Meagen seemed puzzled as she took the woman's arm in hand.
Sharwynn looked away, surpressing a shudder. "Because from I've seen,
you're very... well, *friendly* towards him. Sort of... warmer than
to everyone else."
The bard's expression softened. "That's because he showed me more
kindness in two days than other people have in my whole life..."
Catching herself, she quickly added, "Nothing like what you're no
doubt thinking." Her eyes focused somewhere far away as a small smile
played on her lips. "Amus helped me with something very important...
Also, he infected me with his good cheer and taught me to laugh at
myself. I really don't know what I would've done without him..."
She broke off, feeling a pressure and a slight tug on her arm.
Turning her head, she saw Meagen adjusting a bandage over her wound.
"Er... weren't you going to put saltwater on that?"
"I did", the half-elf replied with a grin. "You were so busy
thinking about Amadeus you just didn't notice."
Sharwynn blinked, belatedly feeling a slight sting under the
bandage. "Most impressive." She paused for a while, then added in an
undertone, "Thank you."
"You're welcome", Meagen replied happily. "Now, cover up. I'll get
the boys in here so we can discuss our plan of action."
*********************************************************************
"I found that letter on one of the bodies", Meagen explained as the
document was passed around the room. "Now, this isn't the first time
this has happened - when I was going to Blacklake with Tommy, we got
attcked by magical teleporting bandits in No Man's Land. They had one
of those letters, too. I brought it back to Lady Aribeth, and she
told be to give it to Fentick!
"See, Lord Fentick is in charge of investigating that last attack on
the Academy when they lost all the animals. This letter, as the
previous one, is a possible clue. So I'll just go down to the Hall
and deliver it to him while Sharwynn rests. You boys can keep watch
over her."
"I suppose you're looking to get the reward for yourself?", Amadeus
said with a smile.
"Huh?" Meagen blinked. "Reward? Well, yes, I did get a bit of money
for it last time. But I..." Her face darkened. "Is that what you
think...?"
It was the sorceror's turn to look confused. "What is?"
"You think I'm just after money and don't care about anything or
anyone else, right? Well, Mr. Mighty Wizard", she ignored his faint
protest at this point, "I'll have you know that money *is* important
to me. I've gone out into the world to earn my own living, and that's
what I'm going to do!" She snatched the letter from his hand, and
went on, "But if you're so concerned about your own profits, you can
come with me and get a share of the reward. I'll be waiting
downstairs." With that, she left the room, nearly slamming the door
behind her.
Taken aback, Amadeus looked at the other two for support. Daelann
only shrugged his massive shoulders, as if to say "I don't know,
she's never done *that* before." Sharwynn returned his glance with
her usual air of superiority, only a small twinkle in her eye
betraying her merriment. Shaking his head slightly, he excused
himself and made his way downstairs.
*********************************************************************
They walked to the City Core in an uncomfortable silence, despite
Amadeus' best attempts. He tried to get Meagen to open up, asking
about her home and her parents. He noted that it was not very common
for elves and humans to fall in love, which only earned him a
derisive snort.
As they neared the Hall, however, he noticed a small smile sneaking
onto her lips, and as much as he would have liked to take credit for
it, he knew there must be another reason. Meagen's steps quickened,
and he had to jog slightly to keep up with her. She almost ran
inside, ignoring stares from the priests at this most irreverent
behaviour, slipped past lady Aribeth with only the smallest
acknowledgement, and vanished in the infirmary.
Amadeus followed her at a more respectful pace, pausing to greet the
paladin politely. In the next room, he saw Meagen already in
conversation with Fenthick, the young man responsible for the
investigation of the recent attack on the Academy. Next to Fenthick
stood an older man in the robes of a priest of Helm. Amadeus
carefully contained a small grimace of disgust as Desther loudly cast
doubt on the authencity of the letter. As he approached the group, he
noticed that the half-elven girl didn't seem to be bothered by the
accusations - in fact she hardly seemed to notice the priest at all.
Her eyes were fixed firmly on Fenthick, who thanked her for the
report and passed her a small sack of coins in exchange for the
letter. She hardly noticed the reward as well - she was too busy
asking various unrelated questions, obviously trying to drag out the
conversation as much as possible.
Amadeus took this all in, then with a small shrug turned around and
went back into the temple's main room. Meagen caught him out of the
corner of one eye just as he was leaving, and the sight made her
pause momentarily. She quickly went back to the conversation.
Desther narrowed his eyes, only half-listening to the conversation
playing out. The girl was a fool, asking the same questions as she
had last time, and not very relevant ones at that. She posed no risk
to him. But that sorceror... he was smart, and he obviously suspected
something. What had he come in here for?
*********************************************************************
Having run out of excuses, Meagen recultantly bid Fenthick farewell,
and walked back at a much slower pace. She stopped to talk with
Aribeth, informed her that she had teamed up with Amadeus and they
were investigating the undead in the Beggar's Nest, recieved the
blessings of Tyr and made her way outside.
Snapping out of her reverie, she looked around and wondered where
Amadeus had gone to. She was just considering going back without him
when she noticed him, walking from the direction of the great tree
with a mysterious grin on his face. He evaded all her questions as to
what he had been doing, until finally she gave up and declared they
were going back to the Shining Serpent. Night was falling, and they'd
need to rest before attempting to get to the bottom of the undead
plague.
She only realised much later that he had never asked for his share
of Fenthick's reward.
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