Chapter 3: On the Way to Tre!
D.Y. 500, The twenty-sixth day of Springtide.
-----Raven leads Kazel and Rinda back into the village. The wolf trots along faithfully beside them. The moon has already set indicating that midnight has passed.
-----As they approach the area of the inn and the tavern, they see about a dozen men standing around questioning Seth. Sarah stands nearby watching the proceedings with her owl at her shoulder. Incredibly, Sol and the Dread Pirate appear to exchange angry words. Gimplefwick scowls at Sol and stalks back to the inn. Tivia, the innkeeper. looks as though she could faint from the excitement.
-----"Ere me now, men!" yells Adames, "Ese young people ‘ere claim some undead creature be prowlin’ ‘round. ‘Round up more o’ the menfolk. ‘Roust as many as ye kin! Tell ‘em we need a ‘eavy patrol ‘till first light! Ye gots any ‘oly items n’ torches, bring ‘em!"
-----Sarah has been unable to get a word in edgewise until now. Every time she opens her mouth either Sol or Gimplefwick says something. Finally she gets the chance. She grabs Sol’s arm and starts tugging him towards her room.
-----"Sol! He's right! I had one of those dreams, you know, except this was a really bad one and then I woke up and that little sicko was there and at the window there was this skeleton thing and it was there cause I left the window open for Chessie to fly in and...oh god, I left all my stuff up there....c'mon Sol!" She tugs at his arm again, looking frantic.
-----Kazel quickly dashes into the inn.
-----Sol casts one last baleful look at Gimplefwick, and a set of completely baffled looks for Raven and Rinda. He then relents to Sarah's guidance, and follows her to her room. Then only thing to be heard from him as he enters the inn once more is a muted, "Blessed Solarius, give me strength."
-----As Sarah and Sol reenter the inn, Tivia has her hands on each side of her face repeating, "Good Gracious!" The look of shock is very apparent on her face.
-----As they reach the top of the stairs, they see Kazel standing down the hallway in front of the open door to Sarah’s room. Sol puts a finger to his mouth and quietly draws his sword.
-----He carefully enters the moderately sized dark room. It features four beds with a small table and chairs in the middle of the room. A single open window looks out over the trail leading through the middle of the village. A small fireplace is set into one of the walls but is not lit due to the springtime weather.
-----Sol and Kazel cautiously search the room, but find nothing suspicious. All of Sarah’s things are still there.
-----Kazel sheathes her short sword and nimbly climbs halfway out the window, looking out all around the outside walls and down at the trail. She then drops herself back inside the room.
-----"So... can someone tell me what the fuss is all about?" she says as she pokes at the fireplace for any clues.
-----Sol gives the room one last glance before sheathing his sword, "I'm just goin' te pop my head out the window and have a look. If I fall, the least you can do is shout warning to those below." He quips with a tight grin. Sol sticks his head out the window, and begins to look around.
-----After the window is sorted out, Sol answers Kazel, "I was asleep when I heard Dread running outta the inn shouting 'an army of dead is coming'. So I got ready for an army of dead. Which wasn't quite what turned out to be the problem. I said some thing's I'll regret tomorrow...I was pretty worked up. That's only my side of things though. The current problem can probably be better explained by Sarah here." He looks at Sarah to show he doesn't fully understand the situation himself.
-----Sarah starts breathing normally, looking a little embarrassed. "It was right there." She says, pointing to the open window. "I'll tell you what I know." She pauses to breathe and then starts speaking quickly.
-----"All right, I came upstairs and got in bed, no wait, before I opened the window so my little baby Chessie could fly back in. Yeah, okay, then I went to bed. I had this dream about Chessie, he was flying really fast, chirping like he was terrified, and there was this darkness coming from the forest...I tried to tell him to go faster but I couldn't do anything and then..." Sarah’s voice trails off as she chokes up. She clears her throat and continues. "I'm sorry. So then I heard Chessie telling me to wake up because something bad was coming. So I woke up and there was this skeleton looking in the window! And that little halfling creep you hang out with, Kazel, he was there too. And so the little stubby guy freaks out and starts screaming about an army of the dead so ya know, I didn't stop to think, I got the hell out of there. So I guess that’s all I know." Sarah looks around nervously. "You guys didn't see anything? I'm not going to sleep by myself again. Are you okay Chessie?" Chessie squawks back and Sarah seems happy.
-----Sarah finally stops talking and lets the others speak...
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