Chapter 17: A Little More Conversation
No longer having a trail to follow, the party was able to take an easier route back to Nashkel. The following morning found them in a lightly forested area where most of the rocks were covered by bright green grasses, brambles, creepers and a variety of spring flowers.
Unfortunately, even though they had left the rocky wastes of the peaks behind, there were still wolves in the area they passed through. Four of the creatures were standing on top of a boulder, snarling at the group. Two were dire wolves - larger and more ferocious than normal wolves, but otherwise similar - and two of them were snowy white winter wolves.
"I suppose the greatest wizard ever can take them on singlehandedly?" Imoen muttered to Edwin as she notched an arrow.
"I... even you must understand that my potential is not realized yet!" the wizard hissed back. Imoen stifled a grin as Edwin mumbled something inaudible yet no doubt insulting, and aimed her arrow at the closest of the winter wolves.
Despite his lack of greatness, the wizard acquitted himself decently. While the others had fought the wolves with bow and sword, he'd used a spell to siphon some life force from one of the wolves and then shot three small volleys of magic missiles into another. He also proved to be familiar enough with staves to be able to put the white staff to good use, knocking a winter wolf off its feet as it was about to release a blast of frost. In the end, the four wolves lay dead on the ground, and the only serious injury in the group was Ember's severely frostbitten leg. Ajantis immediately produced a flask of healing potion and offered his own healing abilities, but Ember brushed him off.
"If you don't mind, I want to try something," she told him. "Just be ready in case it doesn't work." She hobbled towards a small boulder, sat down, put her hands on her leg and concentrated. Almost immediately, the fire rushed through her and out of her hands, only to transform into a soothing sensation as the damaged tissue of her leg was restored. Ember smiled happily.
"I was right! I think I understand how to trigger the healing now," she said.
"That is excellent news, miss Ember," Ajantis said. "How did it feel?"
"Well, it still feels like burning in my body and arms, but when my leg was healed, it felt just like any other healing spell."
Edwin looked from Ember to Ajantis and back to Ember again. "(How curious.) I was not aware that you are a cleric," he remarked.
"She is not," Kivan said.
"I seem to have picked up a healing gift since we left home," Ember said. "We don't know how or why, but it's been nothing but useful so far."
"Indeed. (How very interesting.)" Edwin stroked his beard thoughtfully. "You will look into the cause, I am sure."
"Of course, when we have time. I have other things to do first, such as finding out who wants me dead," she replied with a small chuckle.
"Miss Ember!" Ajantis said. "You should not disclose that so openly!"
"Is there a problem, squire?" Edwin asked.
Ajantis glowered. "I may yet still be a squire, but I possess more integrity than you could ever hope for, Thayvian."
"I see; you are afraid the Red Wizard may act against her. (How narrow-minded, but what else is to be expected?)" He straightened his grimy robes. "Go ahead, use your little paladin tricks. See what my intentions towards her are."
Ajantis stood up and gestured rapidly, casting a spell on Edwin. The spell settled around the wizard in a wavering glow.
"Well?" Edwin asked.
"The response is muddled, but I cannot see that you have any overtly hostile intentions towards us," Ajantis said in a terse voice. "Nevertheless, know that I do not trust you."
"And know that I do not like you," Edwin snapped at Ajantis before stalking off. "(Most interesting indeed,)" he murmured to himself. "(The implications... the unanswered questions...)"
Imoen sighed. "They're both buffle headed."
---
A waterfall spilled over the shelflike cliff in front of them and ended in a deep pool, surrounded by bushes and tall, slender trees. The water was almost crystal clear, and they could barely make out an underwater tunnel that had to be where the water was led away from the pool. The body of a small cat lay in the water, tangled in some branches that dipped into the pool.
Minsc spoke for the first time since they had left the gnoll fortress. "Look, Boo. A little kitten, taken away too soon. Just like my witch," he said. A fresh tear trickled down his cheek.
"Poor little cat," Imoen said. "It must have fallen in the river further up."
"It has a collar, too. See?" Ember said. Imoen nodded.
Minsc clambered through the bushes. He wrapped one hand around a tree for support and reached out and picked up the limp body of the cat with the other. "We must take the kitty home," he stated.
Nobody argued with him; even Edwin settled for merely mumbling about futility and wasted time. They made their way westward from the waterfall to where they could see a winding path leading further up the cliff. The path was narrow enough that they had to walk in single file, and it even crossed under the waterfall at one point. Shortly after emerging from under the roaring curtain of water, they came upon a small girl. She ran down the path towards them with an anguished look on her face.
"Have you seen my cat?" she asked. "Pixie, my cat, she was playing close to the waterfall and slipped... Sniff... I hope she's alright."
"Is this your cat, little one?" Minsc asked sadly, holding out the cat to her.
"Pixie!" the girl exclaimed happily. She retrieved the dead cat from the dumbfounded Minsc and cradled it in her arms. "It's alright, she's done this before. Daddy will just have to raise her again. Here, you can have this scroll Daddy gave me. I can't read the words yet, anyways."
"He can bring back the dead?" Minsc asked.
"Yes, sometimes. It's difficult, he says, but he's raised Pixie three times already."
"Could Minsc ask him to raise someone? Please?"
The girl nodded. "Of course! Follow me." The girl skipped up the path away from the waterfall.
Ember cursed silently as they followed the child. There was no chance of raising Dynaheir; it'd been too long and her body was far too damaged. I knew even Gorion was too damaged for that, and we at least had his entire body. She could hear Imoen trying to delicately reason with Minsc, but he refused all advice, insisting upon hearing what the priest had to say first.
The top of the cliff was a quiet, lush grove. A small lake was revealed to be the source of the waterfall, and it was surrounded by trees of all sizes. Largest of these was a large, gnarled oak that was easily twice as tall as any of the others. It stood somewhat apart from the other trees on the eastern shore of the lake, and they could see three people standing next to it.
"Drienne, who do you travel with?" a melodic voice asked from behind a tree.
The little girl immediately turned in the direction the voice had come from. "Oh, there you are! Is Daddy with you?" she said. "They helped me find Pixie and now the big man wants to talk with Daddy."
A slight woman with green-tinged skin and a mass of golden hair appeared so suddenly that Ember felt like she'd stepped out of the tree itself. Her feet were bare, and a simple garment the color of young spring leaves flowed around her body like water. She was painfully beautiful, and as her gaze passsed over the party, it all but mesmerized each of them in turn.
"A wondrous oak is in peril," the woman said, looking at directly at Ember as she spoke. "It is about to be attacked by two who would defile the majesty of nature. They have avoided my charms, and must be stopped before irreparable harm is done. Would you heed my plea?"
Ember nodded. "I will come."
"What villain would do such a thing?" Ajantis proclaimed. "Lead on, and I will deal with them!"
"Aye," Kivan said. "We will all help."
"Drienne, fetch your father," the woman said. "I thank you, for although they seem dim of wit, they still could do much damage. This way." She walked towards the large oak tree in a purposeful, gliding gait.
"The dryad's always like that; she is very strange," Drienne explained. "I think she liked you, though. I'll go get Daddy now." The girl waved at them and ran up the path to the northernmost end of the lake.
Ember led the others towards the tree, which was even more impressive up close. Its leaves whispered in the wind like a chorus of voices, and its branches creaked softly as they moved in the breeze. It's almost like a person, sitting there in the sunlight and watching the world and whispering to itself, Ember thought. The two men that were standing under the oak were utterly dwarfed by it.
"There, they are just ahead," the dryad said. "I implore you, do what you must to make them leave." With a soft rustling like the sound of dry leaves, she vanished from sight.
"Hey, look, Krumm! New folks!" one of the men cried out. His companion looked around confusedly, but the speaker sauntered towards them.
"Heyas, I'm Caldo," he said. "We think dis here's a magic tree, cuz it's all alone up here and so big. Probably got gnomes or pixies or sumthin' in it, so we're gonna bust it down and take any treasure! Ain't that right Krumm?" The last part was shouted over his shoulder to his friend, who merely grunted and picked his nose in response.
"You wanna help?" Caldo asked. "It's a big tree, probably got enough gold fer alluh us!"
Edwin burst out laughing. "Gnomes? In trees? Gnomes do not dwell in trees, you bumbling idiots! (Is there no end to the stupidity?)"
"Sure dey do!" Caldo protested.
"Have you ever even seen a gnome, you pathetic simian? Or a pixie?"
"I seen one," Krumm said.
"Oh, I'm sure you have. How drunk were you at the time?"
"Huh?"
"(Fools.) Go ahead. Cut the tree down. I'll watch you, and I'll laugh when you find nothing but more kindling than you could ever carry home."
"I'm not gonna stand for dat!" Caldo said angrily. "Yous were probably gonna rob us when we're done, wern't cha? Me an Krumm don't cotton to bandits one bit! Do we Krumm?"
Imoen stepped forward. "Rob you of what, firewood? Think about it; how long would it take you to cut a tree this big? Just look at it. Like you said, it's a big tree."
Krumm stared dazedly at the tree. "Uh...Yeah!" he said.
"It'd take you at least a week, I reckon," Imoen said. "Don't you agree, Caldo?"
"Mebbe," Caldo muttered. "But it's still our tree an our treasure!"
"How would they get the treasure in the tree?" Imoen asked.
"Magic, of course!"
"So, if someone used magic to put treasure in the tree, wouldn't they use magic to protect it the tree was cut down?"
Caldo frowned. "You mean... poison or sumthin'?"
"It'd be a pretty stupid place to hide a treasure, anyway," Ember added. "Out in the open like this? Too obvious. I'd put it in a cave instead."
Caldo's face lit up. "We knows a cave! But... it probably got wolves in it."
"Probably," Kivan said. "I would not expect a treasure cave to not be protected."
"Lemme think," Caldo said. He looked up and down the tree, seeming to gauge its size, then he looked southwards. After a few more minutes of looking between the tree and the lands to the south, he nodded as if he had reached an important decision. "Krumm!" he shouted. "We're gonna go to the cave!" Krumm muttered something unintelligible, stuck a finger in his ear, and followed his friend south.
"I don't know whether or not to hope there will be wolves in the cave," Ember said as they watched the men leave the area.
"We should have just killed them. It would have been much simpler," Edwin said. "(And the world would not miss them, I am sure.)"
"Perhaps, but I am most pleased that you did not," a voice said. A man in blue and green robes was walking towards them, closely followed by Drienne. She was cradling a slightly damp cat in her arms; it was purring loudly and most decidedly alive.
"I am Peaceman Derrin," the man said in a calm, gentle tone, "and I am grateful for your assistance with this problem. Now, my daughter tells me that one of your party wishes to speak with me. How may I help?"