Aimz 1194255606|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
(Yes, I know it's in the diary section. But I still wrote it in third-person. Plz dun kill meh.)
It would have been nice to spend the evening inside the walls of Myronment, Tawny thought absently, But I doubt I’d spend my time looking up at the stars like this. She looked for familiar constellations, the ones she and her brothers used to make up. There’s Grontar: winner of a thousand battles, and the zombie-pirate-bushi-golem, and there’s the fountain of puke… She almost smiled, but then she didn’t. Deimos had thought of that one. She still missed him.
“Hey, boss!”
The goblin’s shrill cry lifted the cleric out of her reverie. “What is it, Ritnik?”
The goblin grinned from on the other side of the fire, and pointed through the trees. “Big-boss comin’ back.”
‘Boss’ could have meant anything, and everyone was bigger than Ritnik. Tawny turned her head, eyes following the goblin’s gesture, and peered through the darkness, wishing she had the ability to see through the shadows like the goblin did. “Which one?”
“Soldier-boy, boss.”
That meant Theopholous. He was probably coming back with the cleric’s weapon - he’d taken it into town for her, seeing as she couldn’t. Tawny nodded her thanks to the goblin, then turned her attention back to the stars. She lost herself in memories and the dazzle of distant lights until someone roughly kicked at her shoulder.
“Here’s your stick back,” the fighter said gruffly, towering over her from where she sat, “It’s magic now.”
Tawny pushed herself to her feet and accepted her staff from him. “Thankyou, Adr…” She stopped herself in time.
Theo relinquished the clerical weapon quickly, as though by simply being associated with it he was emasculating himself somehow. He eyed Tawny suspiciously. “Thankyou and what?” He asked, shortly.
Tawny smiled as she struggled to cover her slip of the tongue. “Thankyou, and… and how was Myronment?”
The fighter grunted and turned to the fire, warming himself. “Same as it was since we left it a week ago.” He glanced at her as though she were simple, his eyes glowing red in the darkness a moment, then turned and stomped off to the other side of the camp.
Tawny let out a heavy but silent sigh. How many times do I have to keep reminding myself, she wondered, He’s not Adrastos. He’s not my brother. He’s nothing like him at all. She examined her staff instead, trying to distance herself from the morbid thoughts. The staff seemed lighter now, almost. She tapped the ‘business end’, and it gave a faint golden glow. She smiled, satisfied. Let’s see those monsters get the better of me now.
“Y’know boss,” Ritnik appeared suddenly beside her at waist height, and Tawny jumped and gave a short yelp of surprise, “I bets you could writes yer name in deh air wid dat!”
Tawny looked at the goblin, raising an eyebrow. “Really?”
The goblin nodded and grinned. “‘Ere, lemme show ya!” He took the staff from Tawny’s hands and waved it above his head. Given that the stick was taller than the goblin, it wasn’t that hard to accomplish. Tawny had to smother a smile. “See?” The goblin pointed. The staff’s glow left a trail in the air. Tawny followed the trail with her eyes ‘TNIK DA QU’ before she felt dizzy.
She felt, rather than heard, the crackle of magic from the other side of the camp, and turned swiftly to face the source, thinking the magic meant there was another ambush on the group. But all she saw was Maximus and Theo, standing by the fire. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
But she felt that same sinking feeling in her gut that she had when she heard about the criminal to be hanged in Myronment square. And Maximus was grinning.
Tawny rolled her eyes. “Bloody earth, not again.”
“Wot?” Ritnik peered narrowly up at her, leaning on the staff. “Wot izzit?”
“The Badger King,” she muttered. She didn’t need to say anything more.
“Want some wine, friend?” Maximus held out the bottle.
Theo grinned back and accepted the bottle. “Sure, why not?”
Tawny didn’t know whether to be frightened or burst out laughing at the fact that Theo had been so easily charmed by the sorcerer’s spell. She opted for frightened, because she hadn’t known Theo could smile. Or that his teeth were that sharp. She focused a disapproving gaze on the sorcerer. What are you planning, Maximus? What the hell are you doing?
And why are you listening to him, Adrastos?
Tawny’s breath caught in her throat. Dammit, not again! She looked aside, silently cursing herself. That’s Theopholous, not Adrastos. Why is that so hard for me?
Surd was returning, and was watching curiously; Theo and Maximus were acting uncharacteristically like best friends. The goblin bounded over, taking the cleric’s staff with him, and started explaining the situation with giggles.
“Hey!” Maximus laughed, taking the bottle of wine back from Theo, “You should so totally take off your armour and clothes, and go dancing around the campfire naked!”
Ritnik threw back his head and howled with high-pitched goblin laughter; Surd joined in, sniggering. Theo grinned, clearly not understanding that the joke was on him, and started unbuckling the straps of his breastplate.
Tawny buried her head in her hands. “Elona, forgive me,” she muttered, then turned and walked away.
The young woman stood on tiptoes and peered down the corridor, straining her eyes. She gave a relieved sigh as the source of the sounds of a platoon’s marching came into view. Battle-weary, the men staggered towards her. The warrior at the head of the column saw her, and smiled.
“Hail, Thais,” he smiled wearily, forcibly. “Waiting for us, were you?”
She nodded, and smiled warmly, but her eyes picked restlessly through the rest of the men as they approached. “Where’s Deimos? He’s supposed to be with you, Adrastos.”
The men staggered past, into the sanctuary of the Temple, while Adrastos halted by his sister. In truth, there was little similar about their appearances - he had black hair while she possessed Shyen-like red tresses, for one - but there was no mistaking they were twins. “Deimos? No, he joined another regiment. He wanted to prove himself, so I let him go.”
The woman’s expression underwent rapid change - surprise, confusion, disbelief, horror. “You were the last regiment out there,” she said, voice hoarse, “You were the last to come back…”
The warrior stared a moment, then bowed his head, grim and weary. “Tawny…”
“No!” She turned and ran back into the Temple, as though she’d find him there, “NO!”
Adrastos followed after her, calling for her to stop, calling for her to calm down. She pelted through the infirmary, pushing aside the concerned and sympathetic clerics, looking for a warrior with her youngest brother’s face, but before she’d even found him her tears were sign enough that she knew he was dead. So she fled yet again, seeking darkness and solitude.
“Thais! Tawny!” He’d finally caught up to her. “Stop it!”
“Let go of me!” She flailed ineffectively, trying to pull herself free of his grip.
“Tawny, please. Is this how you want to honour his sacrifice?”
“You did this!” She shouted, pointing accusingly. “It was your fault! You knew he wasn’t ready for battle! He could barely lift that sword!”
“He was man enough to fight for the defence of those he loved!” Adrastos shouted back.
“How can you say that?” She screeched, “You were supposed to protect him! But you sent him off to die!”
Adrastos’ face was stony. “Deimos died for the protection of our home, Thais. He died a warrior. It would be disgraceful to his memory to act in such a way. Put aside your grief, for his sake!”
“Put aside my grief? Who are you? You don’t even care! He’s dead and you don’t even CARE!” She glared at him through tear-filled eyes. “You killed him, Adrastos! You killed our brother!” She turned away and ran, tears blurring her vision.
That was the first time that she’d ever pushed her twin away.
Whether it was divine intervention or just plain misfortune, Tawny found herself hopelessly lost. This can’t be Epiach, she thought, looking around at the ruined and burning shells of buildings and homes, at the scars in the earth and stone where battles had been fought, at the wreckage and debris that burned and smoked and littered the streets. This can’t be Epiach. This can’t be what has become of my home.
She heard a cry from one of the near buildings, the voice of a child. There was no time to glance over her shoulder to see if she’d been found by her brothers, or by a wandering regiment. Someone needed help, and she was all that there was. Tawny tightened her grip around her staff and charged into the building.
Through the slits in her helmet, as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw a young child cowering in the back of the room. The bodies of a woman and a man lay between him and the door - no doubt the mother and father. The child was crying, shielding his face as though Tawny sought to attack him.
“Rest easy, little one!” She lowered her staff and knelt before the child. His wailing intensified, and he curled into a ball, grasping his bleeding arm to his stomach. “No, I’m not one of the bad guys!” She smiled as she pulled off her helmet. “See? It’s alright. You’re safe now.”
She heard the footsteps behind her too late; a sword sung through the air and slammed into her back, denting her armour and throwing her forward. She retained her balance, and quickly leapt to her feet, throwing aside her helmet and bringing her staff ready.
The skeletons’ bones clattered as they closed in around Tawny and the child, and the one who had struck her readied his sword to strike again.
“No,” she snarled, putting herself between the undead and the child, “You will stay back!” She touched the symbol at her throat, the five-pointed star. “By Elona, you will STAY BACK!” The light made the undead shudder for a moment, but only for that long before they pushed forward. The one with the sword did not hesitate at all.
She was protecting the child. There was no time for her to protect her face.
These weapons were strange. People died from a distance, from wounds inflicted by invisible arrows fired from strange handheld contraptions. If it weren’t for the skills she’d been gifted by Elona, Tawny would not have been able to heal the men she was travelling with.
“Form ranks!” Adrastos bellowed, and the men raised their shields, forming a ‘turtle’. Tawny crouched down within the centre of the formation, healing wand at the ready should the demonic creatures open fire and the soldiers require healing. Her brother glanced over his shoulder at her briefly, then focused back on the battle that lay ahead.
He’d been his old self for a moment, concerned about his sister and worried for her welfare. But Tawny didn’t see that. She only saw an impatient, ‘women shouldn’t be in the battlefield, they’re too much of a liability’ kind of glance. A wall had sprung up between them, separating them. They’d known each other since before they were even born; they had shared everything, kept no secrets from each other, faced perils and joys alike side-by-side. And now they could not even speak to each other, because there was so much difference, so much anger and blame.
The day Adrastos had picked up a sword and a shield to defend his home, he’d become a warrior. But at the cost of the closeness and trust of his twin.
The battle was bloody, but under the cover of the turtle the men made swift and safe progress towards the attackers despite the pieces of lead shooting through the air. The demons gibbered as their weapons ceased firing, and the turtle broke at Adrastos’ command.
“Give ‘em hell and send ‘em back!” He roared, as he and his men charged forward. Javelins flew through the air; the men drew their swords and cut the demons down where they stood. Tawny charged with them, though hanging back out of the path of the more experienced fighters. She swung her staff, knocking a demon to the ground; Adrastos ran him through, slicing through the creature’s neck. The demon dissolved in a foul-smelling cloud, hissing as it did so.
The sister and brother glanced at each other a moment, then both turned away, she with a disdainful snort, he with a short sigh.
It was a messy battle, but it was over quick. The demons died quickly, and there were no casualties on the side of the defenders. Tawny let out a cheer with the rest of the men as the monsters fell one-by-one.
Bleeding and dying, one of them clung to its weapon. Tawny watched as her brother loomed over the beast, sword lifted high to finish it off. The creature cursed at him, and pulled at a small lever on the machine’s base. There was an explosion and a flash of light; Adrastos’ sword fell, and the demon died. But this time there were no cheers of victory, only cries of horror and disbelief.
Blood poured from Adrastos’ neck, the one place his armour did not protect him.
Tawny didn’t remember running to him, didn’t remember what she said as she held him in her arms and watched him die. All she knew was that he was gone. Her twin brother was dead and gone forever.
And the last thing she’d told him was ‘I hate you’.
A crowd was gathering at the base of the great tree. Tawny could see the rope tied to one of the lower branches, and felt sick at the thought. Not a day before they’d spoken on peaceful terms with the Spirit, and now that same tree would be the place where someone was going to die.
“Stop!” She shouted, shouldering people aside. “Don’t do this!”
The mayor turned towards her, and his red eyes narrowed as the cleric continued to push her way to the forefront of the crowd. “Who are you?”
“Thais Akakios,” she said, and saw people staring at her scars out of the corner of her eyes. “A healer.” It would be too risky to declare her allegiance to Elona, especially in a crowd that was already hostile. Tawny knew she would be forgiven, though. She was making a stand based on the teachings of Elona. It was the right thing to do. Besides, what joy or goodness could there be if one of the party was killed before their quest had even begun?
The mayor of Myronment gestured to Maximus, who stood, bound and gagged, on the platform under the rope. “You stand in his defence?”
“Yeppers!” Ritnik materialised at Tawny’s side.
Tawny nodded. “We do.”
The mayor’s face hardened further. “By the laws of our town, if he is found guilty, then you shall share in his punishment.”
“What?!” Ritnik squawked. Tawny blanched.
“You will be escorted to the town gaol. A council will convene for one hour to decide your fate.”
Tawny looked at Maximus, expecting to see gratitude, or at the very least, some form of thankfulness. But she didn’t.
“Ritnik!”
The goblin slipped and fell back down the moss-covered stairs, and the tree-monster took advantage of the goblin’s mistake to lash out at him. Tawny leapt in the monster’s path and took the blow with gritted teeth. The goblin groaned and shut his eyes, lying still and wounded were he’d fallen.
Theo sliced at the air with his sword and his shield, swearing in Dimrosian and Infernal, the latter language making Tawny even tenser than she already was. The beast growled as more of its limbs were sheared off by the tiefling’s weapons, and renewed its attack on the warrior alone.
Maximus hiked up his robe and ran, past the creature and into the darkness beyond.
“COWARD!” Surd bellowed, as he swiped at another one of the tree monster’s limbs. “How dare you flee!”
Insane giggling seemed to be the only reply, until it was followed swiftly by glowing orbs of light as the sorcerer cast his spells from a safe distance away. When the battle ended, he just laughed while everyone healed their wounds and caught their breath.
Surd took out his frustrations on the corpse of the tree-monster, but Tawny could see the Orc contemplating crushing the sorcerer’s head. She shared the feeling, but forced herself to smother it.
When she was far enough from the campfire, Tawny sighed and slumped against a tree, putting her head in her hands. I should go back there, she told herself. With Theo charmed, and Surd and Ranubi away from camp, I’m the only sane mind the group has left. It would be the right thing to do to stop Maximus’ behaviour before it gets any worse. Then she sighed again, this time angrily; the patience she was supposed to have as a cleric of Elona was dangerously thin in regards to the sorcerer. Though, the last time I stepped in to something that wasn’t any of my business, I didn’t even get so much as a ‘thankyou’. I was banished, made unwelcome in a town we promised to aid, and that fool Maximus acts like I never helped save his life. Ungrateful charlatan.
Yet for all he’s a fool, I’m still scared of him. She grunted out into the darkness, her lips twisting sourly. He has raw, untapped magical power… there’s no telling what he could do. And given his random bursts of unpredictability, that’s not a good thing. He’s dangerous. And if he was able to spell Theo so quickly and easily, what’s to stop him from doing the same to me?
Not to mention he has that potion with him.
Tawny moved away from the trees, walking across the wide moors, the stars and the half-moon high above her head. She needed some peace, some quiet, some chance to think. Her head felt like it was too full.
It had been disturbing enough to find out the potion in the slug-monster’s nest was an Elixir of Love. But for Maximus to claim it for his own was even more so. She didn’t quite know what the potion would do, but didn’t particularly want to find out. Love was messy and painful enough as it was. Love under the influence was probably even worse. And given she was the only female in the group, Tawny had every right to be leery of being anywhere near the sorcerer. Particularly with Theo dancing around naked at this point in time.
It’s not that I don’t find Theopholous unattractive, she thought, smirking a little to herself. It’s just… She sighed. He reminds me too much of Adrastos. To fall in love with Theo would be… awkward, to say the least. She looked up at the stars. Maybe I’m just connecting the two in my mind because they’re both warriors. There’s nothing about Theo that should remind me of my brother. Even when Adrastos and I fought, there was still a kindness to him; even when we didn’t speak I could sense there was so much that he wanted to say. With Theo, it’s like I can’t speak to him at all. My brother protected me because he loved me. Theo protects no-one; he fights for himself alone.
Or maybe I’m just likening the two because of how guilty I feel about my twin.
Tawny sighed again, brushing a strand of hair from her face. Her fingers traced across the scar tissue, the uneven feel of half her face, for a moment before she dropped her hand. “A chronically-depressed cleric of Elona,” she muttered, “I’m sure that’s some kind of heresy.” Between the crazy mage, the potion, and the memories of her brother, there was more than enough of a reason to put distance between herself and the campfire.
But she stopped, and looked back. She was far enough away that all she could see was indistinct shadows around the light, but she could hear Maximus’ laughter, Ritnik’s high-pitched giggles, and Surd bellowing. Tawny closed her eyes a moment.
Theo is not my brother. No amount of pretending that he could be is going to change the fact that Adrastos died… as he did. Dying without me ever getting to say I was sorry. She turned her eyes to the stars. Brother, one day I’ll be able to apologise to you, to tell you I didn’t mean what I said. To tell you I spoke out of grief, to tell you I don’t blame you for what happened. Until then, I will honour your memory - the memory of both my fallen brothers, and my family that still live - by fulfilling my duty.
Guess I’d better head back, then. Tawny smiled at the distant light of the campfire. Can’t just leave them like this. It’ll end in bloodshed if I don’t do something. For the greater good, I must. I have sworn to help people, regardless of the cost. She sighed again. So even if I fall in love with someone I don’t like, or whatever… I still have to do good. That is my oath.
She started back to the campfire. She didn’t get very far before a force greater than her own will snatched her up and away.
