Chapter 17: In and Out of the Dark
-----The dawn comes in the next morning once again behind an overcast sky. Raven goes about waking Thalog early as he knows the mage will want to recover his spells. Rand is already up taking in the first gray light of morning while receiving blessings from the sun god. Soon the entire camp is busy as they prepare to return to the Darkness this day.
-----Sarah awakens from her bed and stretches. When her eyes open, she looks at Sol. He sees not the weakness and defeat of the night before, but something different. Strength, confidence, and dedication positively leak out of Sarah Night. She stands up and says to him, "Glow Wing talked to me in my dream. He told me something my father used to say a lot. That if you have the ability to help someone and you don't, it’s as bad as you hurting them yourself." Sarah stops and sighs. "I have the ability to cast these spells, I'm really damn good at it." She says the last line a little vainly but clearly she believes in herself. "So I won't be stopped, not by any sort of monster, not by any sort of god or evil, and definitely not by myself." Sarah starts studying her spells. "If everyone’s feeling alright we should attack the blackness today."
-----Thalog wakes and calmly prepares for the day ahead. First he memorizes, then has a breakfast of rations followed by saddling up.
-----If Sol had been surprised at Sarah's apparent change in attitude, he doesn't show it. With a warm smile and a healthy tone, he simply replies, "Good to have ye back." With that he gets up from his resting spot by the tree, and begins to stretch, after which he practices with his swords while the mages memorize their spells. He quickly wolfs down a meal of rations, before finally mounting his horse.
-----Raven also smiles when he sees Sarah is feeling better. Raven says to Sarah, "Damn right, you're a good spell weaver. You'll be getting a chance to test those skills very soon." Raven looks over at their captives. "Well, what should we do with these three idiots? I feel they could cause us trouble if we bring them with us. Should we strip 'em and then tie them up here. When we show that old bastard his own heart, we can come back and bring these two to justice." Raven continues, "I'd say cast a charm over them, but they seem to be able to shake off the charm."
-----"Yeah, just leave 'em here." Sol replies, "We'll come back for them if we feel like it."
-----After stripping the prisoners down to their bare essentials, but leaving them enough so they aren’t exposed cruelly to the elements, the prisoners are tied to separate trees. The six adventurers take their places in the saddles and ride their steeds down the hill. Even though there is no wind, the forest seems chilly. As they silently ride, the adventurers can see their foggy breath escaping in front of them.
-----As they approach the hill where the cabin stands, they notice the forest remains quiet all about them. There appears to be no sign of birds flying or small mammals scurrying underfoot. Atop the hill, the cabin seems dark and, obviously, still now with no sign of movement around it.
-----As they circle around the bottom of the hill toward its south side, the riders see the familiar dull grayish tone to the trees in front of them. The massive unholy Darkness now lies ahead as they catch sight of it between the bordering trees. The faint violet glow continues to emulate somewhere within its depth. Some of the horses whinny revealing their unease. An eerie feeling seems to fall around the six people as they consider what to do.
-----Sol dismounts and ties his horse to a tree. He begins to walk towards the Darkness, squinting at it, in an attempt to discern what lies beyond. He stops somewhat short of it, and turns to face the rest of the group. He looks at everyone with a questioning expression, "So we just walk right in?"
-----Raven also dismounts and then stands by Sol. "Damn, I don't like just walking into a pit of vipers blindfolded. Maybe we should have a rope linking us all together or at least some way to stick together in there. At least that way we won't get spread out and make it easier for 'em to kill us. What say the group? I'd rather not get tangled in a rope when quick movement is needed, but I wanted to lay all our options on the table."
-----Raven draws both his swords and walks up to the darkness. Raven gives the group a slight smile, "This will our grandest adventure yet!"
-----Sol jumps on this with enthusiasm, "Hah! Of course it will be. Nah, stuff the rope, can't do much when yer tied up." He gives a grin, and places his hands on his hips, "Come on, let's end it now." Once again, impatience seems to eat at the young man.
-----Raven enters the darkness. As he crosses the dark threshold, everyone sees him take a couple of steps. His pacing immediately slows. The rest of the party suddenly sees the shadowy form of the young ranger drop to his knees, as if overcome by something.
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