You can Go on Living; Towers are not a Roadside Attraction (Part 2)

Moonlight Guardian felt that it would be an unpleasant night. She had been to several of these human community dens, but never one out in the middle of nowhere. While this didn't bother her, the rowdiness did. The whole lot chattered on, more so than at the other dens, and to her chagrin, they seemed to be directing most of their communications at her. Did Durroum not tell them that she couldn't understand them?

If they talked nice and slow, she might have been able to make something out, but not these guys. They all spoke like trying to invoke gale-force winds. Even worse, they all flapped their lips or jawed their gums at the same time. How could anyone understand?

She met this challenge in the only peaceful way she knew, ignoring them. This worked in the sense that nothing escalated, but it failed in getting them to stop assaulting her with their words. Of course, she could hope that Durroum would put an end to it. However, he appeared engrossed in his communications with the woman from earlier. Missy, she believed, was her reference. She threw telepathic pleas for reprieve his way, but her attempts to get his attention failed. She considered using more overt methods than telepathy to get his attention, but she wouldn’t beg for help.

Perhaps she could finish her food and go straight to bed. Surely, no tempting reason to mull about. But no, somebody had to keep an eye out for Durroum. As of right now, he wasn't even keeping an eye out for himself.

She pulled at her hair as she continued to eat. How unfortunate, it was tasty with foreign spices tickling her tongue with a pleasant burn, but she couldn't enjoy it with this constant noise. They wouldn’t take the hint; they would be getting no response from her, but she could smell the alcohol, and she knew what that did to her people.

In her frustration, she prepared to do something dramatic and probably foolish, like drive her sword down into the table in hopes it would get the message across. But before she could…

A female voice rang out over the table. Not Missy, she looked as taken aback as the rest, and Moonlight Guardian didn't remember the speaker's reference; it was one of the last Durroum had given, and her basket had run over by that point. She continued speaking, her tight hair bun darting back and forth as she addressed all in attendance, and from the various gestures she used, she appeared to be berating them. More importantly, it got them to stop barking at her.

After passing a few baleful glares across the table, she turned her attention to Moonlight Guardian. She strode around the table and banished the occupant of the seat next to Moonlight Guardian, taking his place.

Once settled, she gave Moonlight Guardian a few nervous stares. Moonlight Guardian felt she desired to communicate, but held her tongue. She stared back, inviting words, unaware of how intimidating her mask was. At that moment, Durroum decided to intervene, briefly pulling himself off of Missy to say something that drew the woman's attention for a moment, after which, she turned back to Moonlight Guardian, looking more at ease.

"Are you …?" She said to her in a soft voice, now more relaxed. Moonlight Guardian tilted her head. She knew some of the sound, but not the most important. As she pondered this, the guard woman's attention drew back to the other occupants, whose attention had drifted back to their strange visitor. She barked something out at them, causing them to return to their conversations.

"Are you okay?" Oh, she understood this. She nodded in confirmation, bringing a smile to the woman's face. "… you … help, you … come to me," she said with a thumbing gesture to herself. From the combination of sounds and body language, Moonlight Guardian inferred this woman was offering to help her if she needed it.

Moonlight Guardian liked this woman. Strange because she couldn't say she had a favorable opinion of any human until now. In fact, her opinion of humans had only deteriorated. In some sense, it wasn’t worse—it was hard to sink lower than destroying one's home—but the way they treated each other seemed almost as bad. However, this woman gave off genuine sincerity. She wouldn't completely trust her instincts on this matter, but she allowed herself to feel gratitude for her gesture, nonetheless.

The rest of the meal passed with Moonlight Guardian now able to savor the novel flavors without distraction. Once finished, the crew dispersed, with some heading to upper floors and others gathering around tables, passing out those small square bits of stiff paper with decorative patterns on one side and cryptic symbols on the opposite. They fanned out their collections as if a barrier from attack.

"Spect," The helpful woman said, pointing to herself as the others dispersed. She didn't need to repeat; Moonlight Guardian recognized it as her reference. The urge to repeat it nearly caused her to croak out an unintelligible sound, but she caught herself. She wouldn't even know how to begin forming the sounds.

Moonlight Guardian added an aura of gratitude, nodding her understanding. She did a lot of nodding, she realized. If only humans could understand telepathy on more than a shallow level, how much easier life would be.

Spect's eyes widened and then nodded resolutely. Wait? Did she transmit that? And did she understand??

Well, she had to know. "Do you understand me?" she projected her thoughts. Spect didn't look as confident as she had, but nodded. She needed a more definitive test. "Hold up three fingers." Her brow furrow deepened, but she hesitantly held up three fingers.

She understood! Moonlight Guardian couldn’t stop herself from bouncing on her heels. Finally, somebody who could understand her! She unloaded, "Finally! Somebody who can understand! You have no idea how frustrating it is to be unable to communicate. Still, it is mostly only one way. Do you think we can devise a way to better communicate? I don't really understand this sound-based communication you humans employ."

Spect paled, and Moonlight Guardian came back to herself, blushing something fierce. She hadn't realized how pent up her feelings had become. However, it seemed Spect couldn’t understand all that. Of course, she should keep it simple. Telepathy for Spect was probably close to human communication for her.

"Sorry..." Moonlight Guardian apologized. Some of the color returned to Spect's face.

She shook her head, "No, it's okay."

Well, things had taken a surprising turn this evening, but Moonlight Guardian's biological demands needed tending, so she had to leave the conversation on pause for now. After some back and forth, Spect offered to show her where they took care of such things, but she declined. Humans had strange ways of handling these issues, and the ceramic pots they sometimes employed seemed downright nasty. No, she could handle this on her own.

Taking advantage of her new acquaintanceship, she asked Spect to watch out for Durroum during her brief respite. He had been drooling over more than just the food, and aside from being unable to detach his arm from around Missy, he had put back enough alcohol that even she could hear him slurring his words. She would have to be quick, lest Durroum find himself on the wrong end of a spear. Sure, the tower crawled with soldiers, but the attackers had only grown more crafty, and Durroum's wits were on sojourn until further notice.

She took care of her business, but the radiant moon halted her swift return. In the Two Trees, it hid itself among the canopies, and you would have to go out of your way for a good viewing, which she often had. She would excuse her tarty return as scouting. Nothing as far as her eyes could see, well, nothing of note. Moonlight bounced off plains of swaying grass, and gentle rolling hills shook out a phantom green. She had seen this sight many times during her Plains tribe sojourn, and it always awed her. How the stars dimmed as the moon brightened, as if competing for a limited amount of nighttime glow. Moonlight Guardian snapped back, realizing she had loitered too long. The plains stood vacant, but that was hardly confirmation of safety. Wasting no time, she made her way back inside.

Durroum was gone. Well, at least not present on the first floor. Following her folly, she panicked, eyes darting about, scanning every corner of the stone construct. However, his boisterous state and bellowing voice carried to her ears, and she relaxed—one advantage of having a noisy companion. Following the manic laughing up to the second floor, she found several soldiers sharpening swords or polishing armor. Wood cracked upon wood as one struck at a human-shaped wooden doll, practice sword flourishing, striking at strange angles. Even for showboating, she ranked it as mediocre at best. Durroum’s cackle came from higher up, and so she ascended to the third floor.

This floor had some partitions and an active fireplace with a kettle hanging over it. The ground at this level was of pleasant wood that felt good on her feet compared to the unyielding stone, though the area around the hearth remained gray brick. Scattered about were several short stools—she had learned that humans distinguished them from chairs—several buckets and four large water basins that she recognized as tubs for bathing.

Two people occupied this floor, Durroum and Missy. She recoiled when she saw Missy removing his clothing. Missy noticed Moonlight Guardian's presence first and gave her a coy smile. With a swift hand, her finger danced between Moonlight Guardian and the wash basins, and then, thinking a moment with a finger to her lips, she repeated the gesture, but included Durroum and herself as well, her smile growing more mischievous.

Moonlight Guardian caught her meaning and stifled a rogue transmission. Was it normal human behavior for casual mixed-gender bathing? Such wasn't taboo in her culture, but she felt deeply uncomfortable with it and imagined that the yutsuukitsuu at large felt the same. Furthermore, they both appeared interested in more than just bathing, but what did she know? As for bathing in general, humans took warm or hot baths, and that was just weird. She wasn't a piece of meat in a cook pot; she would take her baths at room temperature like any sensible creature, thank you very much.

Shaking her head resolutely, she took a seat on one of the short stools, arms crossed with wide sleeves forming a palisade. Missy gave a shrug, and Durroum couldn’t spare a glance, instead saying something garnering a chuckle from Missy. She finished stripping him before removing the rest of hers, both showing no shame at standing in front of her stark naked as they swaggered behind the partition.

What could she do but frown? Durroum had left himself in a very vulnerable position: unarmed, distracted, and inebriated. If assassins did attack, they would get no better moment. What choice did she have but to stand watch over his indiscretion?

She prepared herself to sit there bored—and that would have been preferable—but the pair's constant splashing and laughter invoked an awkwardness that would suffer no boredom to live. Searching for a distraction, she unslung her lute and started her ritual tuning practice. It didn't take long—it never did—and with delicate fingers, she plucked out a melody. With all their noise, no way they could hear with all that noise.

Of course, the floor wasn't exclusive for their use; several soldiers passed through, on their way to the upper floors. All casting perturbed gazes as they passed through. One soldier in particular put on a sour expression as he reached the third floor, before turning on his heels and retreating. So she wasn't the only one who found their behavior distasteful. Somewhat reassuring, but how had she found herself in the company of such a deplorable?

Relief expelled the awkwardness when Spect found her way to the third floor, wearing the same disgusted look finding its way onto many of the faces passing through this floor. She drifted to Moonlight Guardian’s side without her beckoning and placed a gloved hand on her shoulder. Perhaps self-evident, but she still expressed disgust at the display her companion and that woman, Missy, were creating. Spect nodded and offered a sympathetic smile.

While communication still struggled, Spect managed to convey that she didn't need to stay and watch over the two. She even offered to oversee them in her place if she didn't feel comfortable leaving them unattended. The tension loosened in Moonlight Guardian’s chest at her generosity. However, these assassins were cunning, and she doubted one soldier would be enough to handle them.

Spect sighed but didn't press the issue. She did indicate, however, that she would try to get them to hurry up and finish, barking out with that aggressive tone she had used to quiet the soldiers at dinner. Moonlight Guardian found herself radiating warm tones at finally finding a respectable human. She took her responsibilities seriously, and she’d seen little of that among humans.

She pointed a finger upward before stomping up to the fourth floor, leaving Moonlight Guardian alone once again with the two of them. Despite Spect's reprimand—or perhaps because of—the two did not finish up, at least not in the way she had hoped. Instead, they started grunting and moaning, accompanied by the rhythmic sloshing of water. The unmistakable sound of flesh slapping against flesh soon followed. She had no experience with such activities, so it took a moment to put all the pieces together. But once she did, she almost lost her supper, revolted that she had expended mental resources to deduce their unseemly actions.

"Are they copulating in there!?" Luckily, nobody loitered about to pick up her transmission, though they would most likely be too dense to understand. This, too, was not actually taboo among her people, even if she couldn't point to a single occurrence. It wouldn't garner much condemnation, unless you did it out in the open, or if you didn't take precautions to avoid being discovered, and somebody stumbled upon you. But this!? This demanded notice!

She pressed her lip together as the taste of bile threatened a more violent reaction. As a Guardian, she had encountered far worse, though this was needless. And she still needed Durroum's assistance for the children. For the children, she would suffer far worse than this. While she sat firm in her resolution, they continued testing her as they progressed to the more vocal stages of debauchery and greater physical exertions, judging by the quickening beat and thunderous crash of water.

The whole thing ended with an explosive cry of... Well, Moonlight Guardian couldn't exactly tell what, but whatever it was, there could be no doubt that the entire tower heard. Her disgust in that moment was second to only returning to find her village destroyed, although a different kind of infraction.

They finally emerged from the bath, Durroum looking as happy as a pig in shit, which was still too dignified a simile for him. Missy caught sight of Moonlight Guardian and gave her a disappointed pout. Moonlight Guardian turned away, not hiding her scorn. Did this woman truly believe there was any chance she would have any interest in such a depraved act?

Missy sighed before dressing and helping Durroum reclothe himself. Somehow, he seemed more drunk than before, but perhaps that had something to do with their fornication; she had heard that it could alter your mental state. Great, now she would need to keep an ear out while she slept, as he had become even more of an invalid.

Leading him by the hand, Missy guided him to the set of stairs leading to the fourth floor. However, halfway before reaching the stairwell, realization flashed across his face, and he broke contact with Missy, striding back to the partition and grabbing his satchel. He held it up, saying something to Missy, to which she responded by giving him a forced smile.

Moonlight Guardian followed them up to the next floor, lit by only a single orange glowing torch. It provided just enough light to navigate this uppermost level, which consisted of more partitions. However, instead of wash basins, elevated sleeping pads lined the walls.

Well, it looked like she could finally retire, and she couldn't be happier to put this day to rest. Things had been looking up with the discovery of Spect, but Durroum and Missy's misadventures in the tub had destroyed any possibility of salvation. The best thing at this point was to just put this day out of its misery and get the tempest out of here.

Missy directed Durroum to a partitioned-off section of cotts, but when he tried to pull her in with him, she shook her head. Following some verbal exchange, his previous smile inverted itself; it seemed Missy wouldn't be joining him. Why was this the line? Regardless, at least she would be able to relax tonight.

She made her move to join him on that side of the partition, but Missy stopped her and followed up with some sounds, of which Moonlight Guardian only understood "no" and "over here." While the reason evaded her, Missy obviously wanted her to sleep in the other section. This wouldn't do. She needed to keep an eye on Durroum; it would be a problem if he died, and after what she just put up with, she wasn't about to let him get away without honoring his end of the bargain.

Moonlight Guardian tried to force her way past, but Missy threw a fit, shouting and flailing her arms. This attracted the attention of several others, including Spect. Excellent, she thought, Spect will get this sorted out. She transmitted her complaint, and after Spect pondered her response, she pointed to the men in the one partition, then pointed to the three of them, and pointed to the other area.

Ah, she understood, segregated by gender. Why, she didn't know. Especially since bathing had no such strictures, and sleeping was such an unassuming activity. It's not as though she found the custom offensive, but it still poses a problem. Mainly, it would leave Durroum guarded by only his diminished wits.

Normally, she would object in such a situation, but felt it would cause Spect a great deal of distress, and she had no wish to avail herself as such. Looking around the floor, she could see several windows, but they were boarded up with ragged wooden planks. If anyone came through those, they could not remain unheard. The only other routes of ingress were the stone stairwell and the weathered ladder leading to a trap door, presumably to the top of the tower. As luck would have it, they resided adjacent to each other, and she could angle herself while keeping both of them in view. If she could monitor these areas, then she would be alerted and have time to react.

So with great reluctance, she acquiesced to the female guards' demands and trudged over to the female section. With some adjustment, she procured a cott with a good view of the possible infiltration vectors. That would have to do. She unslung her lute, laying it next to her bunk along with her sword, though she kept that at the ready. And with that, she allowed herself to relax and drift into a light sleep.

A strange thing, sleeping while somewhat alert. In truth, they both suffer. The sleep wouldn't be great, but you could get by, and your cognitive perception would lack any fine-tuning. In a way, you had to set a general intention. For instance, you might want to be alerted to any disturbance, or perhaps you only wanted to be made aware if something happened in a specific area, such as what Moonlight Guardian required right now.

Dozing with one eye open, passing guards dragged her from sleep several times throughout the night. This couldn't be helped; this wasn't a private area. Still, she scanned them, ensuring they were one of the soldiers before drifting back off.

At some point late in the night, a heavy set of boots shook the stairwell. Moonlight Guardian's other eye sprang open before the head of the individual crested over the floor. She relaxed when she saw the unmistakable face of that mountainous woman who dwarfed the rest of the guards. She let the tension drain, preparing to resume her rest, when she heard a heavy sigh and felt a large body fall on her.

Haskel not only looked like a mountain, she felt like one too. At least she had taken the armor off. It seemed the large woman hadn't seen Moonlight Guardian lying there and just collapsed onto the bed in exhaustion. She struggled to shove the massive creature off her, loudly transmitting pleas to get off, but this proved an exercise in futility, and the giant continued sinking into the mattress like a corpse. Given enough time, she could have slipped her way free, but before she could…

A shout rang out, followed by what sounded like a short struggle and a crash. Durroum's voice could be heard loud and clear, including the reference, "Amm Par." Tempest, somehow, the attackers had gotten past her. She should have insisted on staying in the same section!

With no choice, Moonlight Guardian engaged her telekinesis to shove the colossus off her, but to her dismay, she found that the woman was holding her tight. What is going on?

To a yutsuukitsuu, the concept of betrayal was so foreign that even as she struggled to dislodge herself, she couldn't comprehend the situation. However, comprehending or not, she needed to be free of this woman's grip and would do what needed to be done. Unfortunately, she couldn’t get her hand on her sword, which had fallen to the floor in the commotion. Probably wouldn't have been too useful in such close confines anyway. So, she went with plan B and materialized a shortened version of the wraith blade.

Never before had she wielded it in a combat situation, but it worked as one would suspect when she stabbed the large woman, causing her to release her, howling in pain. Wasting no time, she grabbed her sword and bounded onto the other side of the partition. Several guardsmen surrounded Durroum, all with swords drawn. Really, what the tempest is going on?! Did he piss them off? She could see it happening, though he was usually good at handling people.

Regardless, she had battled groups of human soldiers before, and they could prove difficult to handle in large numbers. With that in mind, she dashed past the guardsmen, leaving them fumbling in response, snatched Durroum and crashed through one of the closed windows, splinters flying, falling into the clear night air.

If she had been looking at Durroum in that moment, she would have seen an expression of abject terror. But his apprehension was unfounded, as Moonlight Guardian landed on soft feet from the three-story drop, even carrying a flailing human.

However, the remainder of the garrison met them once outside. It appeared Durroum’s quarrel extended to all the soldiers in the tower, as they met them with swords drawn.

Durroum did not have a fear of heights. He had a fear of falling. So as he plummeted to the ground after Amm Par grabbed him and barreled through the fourth-story window like a desperado with nothing to lose, his flailing like a girl thrown into an active volcano was more than justified. Only the grace of Marathaa spared him the disgrace of soiling himself. Of course, maybe he should be thanking her more for the gentle landing, but image was everything.

He drew in several deep breaths, pushing his heart back into his chest. The sharp, crisp night air contrasted with the previous venue and helped bring him back into the present. And in the present, the remainder of the garrison stood outside the tower—Captain included—swords drawn.

"Alright, son. We really didn't want it to go down this way, but it's still within your power to part ways amicably," the Captain said, his voice low and even.

"I think amicably was lost when you drew swords," Durroum responded with narrowed eyes.

"I suppose you are right," he said, sighing. "Hand over the medallion, and you can go without any more harrying from us. We'll even make sure you are provisioned before you go."

"Such kindness..."

"It's more than a fair deal. They would prefer we kill you, and I'm sure they would pay more, too, but that doesn't sit well with us. Just hand over the medallion and spare us all a great deal of grief." He seemed sincere, and Durroum had every reason to believe so—parleying was pointless otherwise. Missy crept up on the flank, sword drawn, with a blank expression.

"Did it all mean nothing to you?" Durroum said, turning to Missy. She gave him a bewildered smile.

"Meant something? I just met you. Sure, you are better looking than I figured, and you knew your way around, so it could have been worse." She gave a snort. "But I'm not that kind of girl. Except the price was too good to pass on, so I guess I am..." Disgust flashed across her face, which Durroum recognized as self-loathing, and he felt a fleeting pang of guilt. "Didn't even matter in the end anyway..."

Damn, now he felt like the bad guy, but she did lead him on. Still... He looked over at his companion, Amm Par. She carried her sword at the ready but held otherwise. Her confusion permeated the ether. Fair enough, as she could telepathically transmit it. However, she emitted more than just confusion, and he felt she couldn’t have been more disoriented if, instead of swords drawn, they had run into the entire garrison belly dancing with talking trees..

Even still, could she not read their bad intentions? You don’t stand out in the middle of the night, weapons at the ready, to put on a parade. Well, regardless, she would follow his lead.

"Alright." Durroum sheathed his sword. "You just let us go after I hand it over?"

"Yes, you have my word," the Captain said, tension dropping from his jaw.

"Okay." He approached the Captain, fumbling around in his bag with Amm Par following close behind. Would the clear moonlit night sky be a blessing or a curse?

"Alright, here it is!" He pulled his hand out and threw a fistful of crushed glass into the Captain's face. His hand shot to his eyes on instinct, and Durroum shoved past him, towing Amm Par along with him.

He had always prided himself on his fleetness of foot, and Amm Par could keep up with a horse, so he had confidence they could outrun a bunch of lightly armored soldiers; far from the first time he had to run for his life. Perhaps he would have been right if they hadn't sent several of their number back to mount horses. In his defense, you couldn't see the stables when approaching the front entrance.

"Crap!" Not good. If the night had been dark, they could probably avoid detection, but they glowed in the moonlight, especially Amm Par with her all white facade. They had a healthy head start, but the horse riders were gaining ground. Shit! Would it be too late to take them up on their original offer?

Amm Par wasn’t oblivious to the approaching horse. She looked at him and shook her head. Was that disapproval? He held her arm to ensure they didn't get separated. But the next moment, she pulled him off his feet and slung him across her back like a rucksack with an inhuman strength, and took off at a speed he wouldn’t have thought possible outside of one of those new-fangled auto-carriages. As the wind whipped him in the face, he wondered if even one of those could keep pace.

How the hell had he never noticed how fast she could move? Sure, he had seen her quick step in the heat of battle, but those were short and decisive steps. She sustained this and showed no sign of tiring anytime soon. Hell, if he had known this, he would have hopped on her back and been to New Praven in two weeks! Though perhaps she wouldn't be amenable to that…

"Whaaa!" Amm Par threw on the brakes, sending grass fragments and patches of soil flying, nearly throwing Durroum from the saddle. She dropped him and turned back the way they’d come. Worry gripped him, but with the distance they’d made, he couldn’t even make out the tower, let alone the pursuing garrison. Safe for now at least.

She jerked her head back, radiating panic and dread. Crap! Was he wrong? Had they somehow snuck up on them? No. He looked around, finding nowhere to hide, unless they could swim through the ground—no easy feat. Why was she so distressed? She weaved her palms in all manner of nonsensical hand gestures while hitting him with an incomprehensible deluge of thoughts.

"Calm… down…," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "What do you want to say?" He didn’t expect her to understand, but it had the desired effect of getting her to settle. She pulled her hand apart diagonally, but seeing Durroum's scrunched face, she paused and rubbed her chin.

After a moment, her ears perked up, and she started playing an imaginary string instrument—Durroum couldn’t miss it. Her lute! She didn't have her lute. She rarely let it off her person. Did she have it before they fled? In the attack, it had been the furthest thing from his mind. His stomach sank like he had swallowed lead.

He mirrored her playing and taped his back. Amm Par straightened, swinging her tail, and pointed back in the direction of the guard tower. Her meaning was obvious. It remained in the tower.

His shoulders tightened. He had felt such relief when they had gotten away unscathed. Sure, they were out a roof over their heads, but they had gone without most of the time, and the lay he had gotten was more than an adequate trade. However, the loss of her lute was sure to cause Amm Par a great deal of duress.

She grabbed his wrist, seeming ready to throw him over her shoulders again, but he wouldn’t be going back there anytime soon. Once you escape the dragon's den, only a fool tries his luck a second time. He slipped her grip and shook his head. Dismay, he was getting better at reading her more specific emotional transmission. He lamented that he never got to feel any nuanced positive emotions. Her arms found their customary disapproving crossed positioning. Pointing to Durroum and then to the ground, he interpreted that to mean she wanted him to wait here. Presumably, she intended to go back on her own and return.

Not an option. Doubtful they expected them to return, but their guard would be up regardless. He didn't doubt she could grab the lute and escape. But they could still be out there looking for them. If she left and they found him, he would be screwed. Furthermore, they might track her back and plan an ambush. No, they wouldn't be going back, and he wouldn't be waiting. With or without Amm Par, he was hightailing it out of there.

He shook his head and pointed off in the opposite direction, "We go." Offense hit him like a heavy lash. She pointed to herself, then towards the tower, then to him and to the ground, reiterating her point of going alone and him awaiting her return.

Shaking his head again, he stated, "if you go." He made the accompanying hand gestures. "I go." And he pointed off in the direction of New Praven. She stared for a moment, until understanding took hold; if she went, he would leave her behind.

Hatred boiled up as if the world had become a foaming cauldron, threatening to swallow him. It assaulted his consciousness as if yelled right into his mind with such force that he tried covering his ears to no avail. Never before had she transmitted this emotion. Anger, disapproval, disgust, annoyance, these he had felt many times, but not hatred. Strangely, she never played that card, though there had been times that warranted it. But now in full force, he could not deny the recipient. However, what really cut Durroum deep, down to the depths of his soul, so much that he wished he had never learned to discern her more nuanced emotions, was betrayal. Its icy grip threatened to shred his heart and cast its remains into the wind. Worse, he knew that only his perceived usefulness prevented her from doing just that.

Durroum turned and ventured into New Praven as a frigid wind swept across the moonlit sea of green. Amm Par trailed behind him like an apparition, the whispered promise of malevolence and damnation hanging in the space between. One wrong step and it would tear the ghost from his being, his spectral remains dissolving into the radiant moonlight.

Even for him, this ranked high on fuck ups. Perhaps she would have forgiven him, or at least absolved him from retribution, but that caravan had just met with a violent end. He would need to play his hand very carefully until back under the safety of Urchins and Beggars. Regardless, it would end poorly for one of them. Damn... why did he have to steal that medallion? Why did he so stubbornly hold onto it...