The night dragged on, and Garven's resistance did not wane. Even as he passed in and out of consciousness, he returned spitting venom. Kael and Liriel took turns, each trying their own approach to disorient and soften him. His foul temperament clung to him like the stench of dust and decay that permeated the old warehouse. Elara even stepped in around two in the morning but quickly walked away, telling Kael that "Whatever he's facing back at home is scarier than we are."
With dawn fast approaching, Liriel roused Eya from her semi-conscious state. Two contiguous nights of non-stop activity were taking their toll on everyone, but the cleric managed to perk up at the sound of her name.
"Hey, need you to patch him up." Liriel beckoned her over. Curious and hopeful that she had missed the end of the ordeal somehow, she approached the slaver. His face was a bloody mess and he was slumped in his chair. Eya gasped at the spectacle.
"Light's grace what did you do?" She asked while she looked him over.
"Prick still doesn't want to talk and we're running out of night. Wake him up." Eya looked up at her in horror, but the rogue shrugged it off. "You heard Elara, I need to be scarier than whatever's got him acting like this. Unless you'd like to explain to Jory's family that we missed our chance because this makes you feel bad?" Eya narrowed her eyes at the emotional blackmail and stood up straight. She placed a hand on the unconscious slaver and closed her eyes, concentrating on healing his body.
Garven snapped awake again and looked around with a groan. "How come every time I come to, you've got a hand on me?" He grumbled. She leaned over to look him in his still-bruised face.
"You need to tell us where the boy is. Please, I can't keep healing you like this. You have to know that what you're doing is wrong, don't you? On some level you have to care that this boy's family is waiting for him? The Everlight will still redeem even you, but redemption will always require some sacrifice. Please just tell us?" Garven looked back into her earnest face through a swollen, bruised eye and a curtain of matted hair. She managed to look like she was the one in pain and he was the reason. He scoffed and looked over at Liriel.
"This is your last ditch effort? A sermon?" He shook his head in disbelief. Liriel ignored him and addressed Eya with a 'See what I mean?' gesture. The slaver did not stop though. "No, Sister, I don't give a crap about one more kid, and neither does Maruk. So save the puppy-dog eyes because even if you could convince him, which you can't, his boss would never stop hunting you. She doesn't do mercy. She knows three things: fear, subjugation, and domination...and she'd better be getting the first one from you because she's all about dishing out the other two."
Liriel noticed that, aside from her stunned expression, Eya's left hand began shaking again at those words. Garven was on a roll and he wasn't about to let up.
"She'd rip out Maruk's spine if he showed that kind of weakness, so what do you think she'd do to me? Nah, you're not going to find a single Saltwright that cares about you or your shiny, useless goddess."
"I...I don't worship Sarenrae..." She started, but her voice was thin and reedy. "Please, you don't know what I-"
"I. DON'T. CARE. BITCH." Garven interrupted her, blood and spittle flecked his lips. The veins in his neck bulged and his anger brought color back into his cheeks. "In fact, show me one person in this room- hells, this city who gives a shit." Eya slowly pointed to herself. Garven's expression could have curdled milk and he shot a look at Liriel.
"Cute. You find this one in fuckin' toy store or something? I cannot believe I'm suffering through this amateur bullshit." He fixed the cleric with a murderous look again. "Well here's some advice, no else cares and no one else will care. When Maruk's done breaking you, and he will take his time with a redhead, he'll send us after that other cleric in the Copper Bowl. You two will send a message to every would-be 'hero' in Marisfall to stay out of our FUCKING WAY."
The tremor in Eya's hand stopped, and Liriel saw an oddly vacant expression float over her features. She turned away without a word and walked off into the darkness that surrounded them.
"Tsk...you kick puppies too?" Liriel asked after she left. "Just trying to check all the worthless crapsack boxes or is there some kind of prize you get for being a petty bitch?" He chuckled and spat more blood at her feet.
"Fuck outta here, elf. You're not gett-" She interrupted him with a lazily bored punch in the nose again.
"Half-elf. Why is that so hard for you morons?" Kael walked up and interrupted another incipient tirade.
"We need to get going. Sun will be up in an hour and I guarantee they know what went down in the bar by now." She shook her head and was about to respond when the sound of debris being moved about in the darkness distracted her. They both looked around for the source, but could only see Eya puttering about.
"Well then we need to dispose of that." She gestured at Garven. "No sense in letting him tell them who we're looking for." Kael closed his eyes and shook his head slowly. He was obviously trying to think of another way, but he knew a memory spell wouldn't cut it this time. Finally, he nodded and looked away. Liriel did not smile or crack a joke. She just patted him on the shoulder and pushed him away toward Elara and Theron.
"Well, it looks like our time is up." She drew her dagger and stalked toward the captive. "And by 'our' I meant 'your', of course." He began chuckling.
"See you in hell, bitch. I'll be the one tearing off your skin for eternity." He continued laughing but she just looked disgusted.
"Gross. Why are you all so...boring?" Liriel pulled back to gut him but stopped when a startling, groaning creak broke through the darkness and dust. Turning to look, she saw Eya dragging a heavy, abandoned table into the light. Now curious, Liriel tapped Garven on the forehead with her dagger. "Don't go anywhere, I'll be right back."
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
The noise hadn't just attracted Liriel. The entire group assembled around Eya as she yanked the table into position. Seemingly satisfied with it's location, she looked up to each of them in turn. Kael and Elara exchanged a worried look with each other. Their healer's bright green eyes were...empty, dull even.
"Please go." She said simply. A ripple of overlapping objections emanated from the group, but she waved them down. "Please...go." She repeated. "I can get what we need, but you need to go and prepare. I'll meet you back at the lodge."
"Absolutely not." Kael said, crossing his arms again and staring her down. "I'm not liking any part of this. We can't let him leave here, are you prepared to do that too?" Eya nodded without looking at him.
"I understand what needs to be done. Please go." Theron spoke up this time.
"Ya don' need to do this Eya, we bloody well dinnae pay ya enough for tha' kinda wetwork." The barest trace of a grin pulled at the corner of the cleric's lip and she looked at him.
"You haven't paid me anything yet." She said, a hint of her old humor in her tone.
"Even worse..." He mumbled back, unnerved by the repetition of their exchange with the informant in these darker circumstances.
"Please...go. Unless you want to explain to Jory's family that we missed our chance because this makes you feel bad?" She looked over at Liriel, who narrowed her eyes.
"I see what you did there. Fine. Let's go, pack up." She gestured to the rest and sheathed her dagger. Elara began gathering the papers to Kael and Theron's disbelieving eyes. The ranger looked at them and waved at the scattered evidence.
"I've got nothing better. If she thinks she can preach or-" she shuddered and resumed, "appeal to him to get what we need then we have to let her try. Unless you've got a better idea? By all means, please speak up or start helping." With no better ideas to be had, they began helping. Eya turned around and faced Garven, her expression unreadable.
When the four mercenaries slipped out of the warehouse, the horizon over the water had just begun to turn slightly purple. They made their way down the boardwalk in silence until Liriel stopped around the halfway point.
"I'm going to see if any of the watchmen on those ships have seen anything." She gestured to a pair of merchant ships berthed back the way they came and began walking. "I'll catch up at the Lodge." Tired and disappointed, none of the others tried to dissuade her.
Liriel walked slowly out toward the pier between the two ships, keeping an eye on the trio. If there was one thing that would never sit right with the experienced rogue, it was not having an accurate read on someone that she needed to know. Eya's unexpected performance in the Crooked Compass, followed by her immediate pivot back to a 'wholesome little healer from the skids' had shaken Liriel. No, shaken wasn't the right word. She'd rolled with the 'potion' and the thought of a hidden kitchen knife. Hell, she'd even been a little proud of the redhead for being prepared. The rest though...that was too much. The shattered mug, the stiletto, and that threat? Eight seconds! She wanted answers.
When her friends were sufficiently far away, she swiftly doubled back to the warehouse. She silently picked her way around the building to find her vantage point. Peering in through the same opening they had been using, she waited and watched.
Eya was standing at the table, her back to Garven. She appeared to be deep in thought and mumbling, her staff resting against the table. Liriel ignored the slaver's crude taunting and concentrated on Eya's lips. It was hard to make out what she was saying, but the experienced rogue was able to tease out a few words...it appeared to be another prayer.
"...my path...my purpose... ... ...foe. I am... ... ...I fear..." The cleric took a deep breath and finished her supplication with "...death." She placed her satchel on the table, then reached behind her, removed the black stiletto from its hidden sheath, and placed it on the table as well. Eya kicked off each boot, pulled off each stocking, and placed them all together under the table. The hair on Liriel's neck stood on end when she saw Eya's hands move to the clasps on her robe.
The cleric unfastened the garment and removed it. Standing with her bare feet on the dusty ground in a padded leather bodysuit, she ritualistically folded the robe. With gentle care and deliberate movements, she slowly prepared it and placed it on the table as well. Liriel kept observing and tried to focus on the odd leather armor that Eya wore. She could make out a series of buckles and attachment points, but could not figure out what they were for. Despite the fact that it covered her from the top of her neck to her ankles, it didn't do much to hide her compact figure. The rogue had to admit it was actually fairly flattering, if bizarre and unsettling. Liriel shook her head and swore under her breath, disgusted. "Fuck's sake Cherry, have a little dignity. You're not going to screw the truth out of him." She prepared herself to stop the cleric. Garven wouldn't give anything up and she would just end up loathing herself. Even if Eya was deceiving them about something, Liriel wasn't about to let her do that to herself.
Instead of removing anything else though, Eya reached into her satchel and pulled out a large, triangular linen bandage. She then turned around and silently padded toward Garven while holding the cloth by two corners. Her steps were light and she walked on the balls of her feet, like someone practiced in the art of silent and graceful movement. She appeared to ignore his crude taunting, which had only gotten more foul when she removed her robe. Eya walked behind him, flipping the third corner of the bandage between her two hands as she went to roll the triangle around itself. She steeled her nerves, set her shoulders, and pulled the bandage over his face in one smooth motion. The cleric pulled it taut into his mouth to gag him and tied it tightly behind his head. Now, Liriel was really paying attention.
Eya walked around him to face him again. Her eyes were red and puffy, tears leaked from the corners onto her cheeks. When she spoke again, her voice was clear and hollow with a resignation that carried more weight than the words themselves should have borne.
"I want you to know that I'm sorry for this." She took a step back, closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. What happened next nearly caused Liriel to bolt from her hiding spot and run for the lodge.
Purple-tinged black flames erupted from the cleric's diminutive body. She was instantly engulfed in a chaotic inferno that clung to her frame, drew in the lone remaining light source and dampened it. Her form took on an ephemeral quality; like living fire. When her eyes opened again, sickly green smoke poured from them and trailed behind her as if carried by a nonexistent wind. The creature that was Eya strained and rolled its head like a beast emerging from long hibernation and raised itself onto the balls of its taloned feet. A glyph of glowing red lines had been etched into the very roiling darkness of its chest, above where the heart of a healer had been. Its movements were unnatural and unsettling but the worst sight was its mouth. It opened its jaws, and this simple act was somehow even more horrific than what had come before. Its 'mouth' tore apart the black flame creature's face, as though it were ripping an opening from its own flesh. The edges formed jagged, haphazard fangs and the same green smoke poured out of the opening. Worst of all...the mouth was just, somehow, too wide for its face.
The ghoulish, dark creature hunched over in a predatory stance and its too-wide maw grinned hungrily. It took one step toward its prey.
Garven began screaming into his gag.