In The Cards

Friends may sometimes be found in less than obvious places. But if you can look beyond the surface you may find real treasure, and a friend for life. And friends are the glue that help us keep our souls together, so one more can never hurt.

Excerpt from 'Ruminations Of A Master Bard'

"What was it like being turned to stone? Come on Rini, you can tell me. Pleeeease?"

Zaerini gave her best friend an exasperated look. "Immy, I've told you already. I can't really remember anything that happened while I was a statue, all right?"

"No? Not even Eddie going down on his knees and swearing to dedicate his life to looking after you if we weren't able to turn you back?" Imoen smiled innocently, her face totally sincere.

"WHAT?!" The half-strangled screams that came from the bard and the Red Wizard caused Imoen to break out in helpless giggles.

Edwin was livid. "I most certainly never said or did any such thing!" he protested, his face a perfect mask of outrage. "That…that sounds like something a sappy knight out of a romance novel would do! (All I said was that I would make sure she didn't accidentally wind up in an art collection, or get stolen by robbers or something.)"

"Sure you did," Imoen said, wiping the tears of mirth from her face. "Hey, don't put yourself down. You might make a very good Romantic Hero, you know. Practice making flowery speeches and writing poetry and you'll do fine."

"I don't want to be a Romantic Hero! Are you quite insane? (Somebody has been giving her sugar. When I find out who it was I'll curse them into another dimension, where they can scream with infinite pain for all eternity.)"

"We probably should do something about your accent though," Imoen said, thoughtfully rubbing her nose. "It's not the traditional one for Romantic Heroes, you know."

"Cut it out, Immy," Rini interrupted. "I don't know about you, but I happen to like his accent just fine." For some reason this made Imoen giggle even harder. "What? I was just making an objective observation, that's all." The bard turned to see Edwin look like somebody had just hit him over the head with a club. "And what's wrong with you? It was a compliment, not an offer of marriage, so you don't have to look that terrified." She suddenly remembered something. "It was nice of you to want to take care of my statue by the way. Out of curiosity, what would you have done with it? I hope you weren't planning to use it as a coat-hanger, or forget about it and let it collect dust in some attic or something."

"No," Edwin said. "No, I wasn't. (Forgetting, it seems, is not an option here.)" And he would say nothing more on the subject.

The adventurers moved on, now passing into a forested area. It was certainly a welcome relief to get away from that unpleasant desert, Zaerini thought. Maybe she wasn't a forest person, but at least she could appreciate the shade. Unfortunately it seemed that others had had the same idea. In a small clearing four people were sitting down to rest, other adventurers by the looks of it. The one who seemed to be their leader was a dark-haired woman dressed all in white. Rather an unpractical color for traveling, Zaerini thought. Her own black garments were much better that way. The woman had a sword resting across her knees, but she wasn't wearing any armor at all. A magic user, perhaps? Her companions were all men. An archer, a swordsman, and one very large and brutish fellow who was busy bashing nuts open with a very pretty morningstar.

As Zaerini and her friends approached the woman looked up. "Hey Lindin," she said. "look over here, we've run across some travelers." She then gifted Zaerini with a condescending smile. "Hey there, my name's Kirian. Me and my buds are an adventuring band. You look to be the same, except a little worse for wear." She snickered loudly and her three friends joined in with some hearty guffaws. "Still learning the ropes of the business, eh? I'm sure I could show you some nice moves. My name is feared and dreaded in my own circles."

"I'm sure it is," Rini said, her golden eyes sparkling. "All the other cockroaches probably fear you'll give them a bad name with your boasting."

Kirian snarled and got to her feet, her companions following her example. "Why you dirty little half-breed!" she spat. "I'll split your skull in two and scoop out your brains!"

"Oh, is it brains you want?" Edwin said. The wizard had folded his hands in the sleeves of his robes, and was giving Kirian a very cold sneer. "We'd lend you some, but you probably wouldn't know what to do with them anyway."

"Exactly," Jaheira agreed. "And as for half-breeds…I suggest you take that back right now. You are starting to make me angry, and I have a good mind to provide these trees with some much needed fertilizer."

"That does it," Kirian screeched. "Hey Baerin, Peter, Lindin! I think these little pipsqueaks think they can take us. Let's teach them the folly of messing with real Waterhavians! GET THE…." Her last sentence was abruptly cut off as a large ball of roaring fire landed on her head, making her scream with pain as it seared her flesh. Zaerini jerked her head around to see Edwin blow some smoke off his finger. The Red Wizard winked at her and smiled slightly.

The battle was brief and furious. The Waterhavians had been wounded by the fireball, but they were still dangerous. Edwin summoned a small group of goblins to distract the archer, and that gave Jaheira time to cast a spell of her own. Lightning struck from a clear blue sky, killing the swordsman instantly. Khalid tackled the fellow with the morningstar, a cleric as it turned out. Though he did his best to call on his divine patron the priest soon fell, he was no match for the skilled blows of the half-elf and the incessant rain of arrows fired at him by Imoen.

Zaerini found herself face to face with Kirian herself. Magic sang in her veins as she cast a spell, bringing forth her Mirror Images. Let's see you match that, she thought. Then she wished she hadn't as the other woman cast the same spell, greeting the half-elf with four identical versions of the same cocky smile. A Magic Missile managed to take most of them down, but by then Kirian was casting a spell of her own. Lightning streaked from her hands, and Rini threw herself to the ground, rolling to get away. Poor Khalid was not so lucky and was struck in the back. He fell to the ground, dead or unconscious, Jaheira at once rushing to his side.

Rini was swearing quietly to herself as she got to her feet. Her acrobatic move had landed her behind Kirian, the perfect place to be. As another Magic Missile fired by Edwin destroyed the last illusion Zaerini moved, lunging at the other woman with her sword. It gave Kirian a powerful swat across the rump, one that sent her sprawling onto her stomach.

"YOW!" Kirian screamed. "I'll get you for that, half-br…" Then she fell silent as the sword was driven into her body, nailing her to the ground.

"Nobody calls me half-breed," Zaerini growled as she yanked her blade out of the corpse. "Do you hear me? Do you?" The bloodrage was coursing through her, and this time she couldn't resist it. The kill in front of her wasn't enough. She wanted more death, a sea of blood to wash away all the injustices ever heaped upon her because of her mixed heritage. Memories swam through her mind, fanning the flames of her rage even higher. Children back in Candlekeep, laughing at her, pointing their fingers. Their parents forbidding them to play with her. Grownups watching her with disgust, their eyes hurting the child who was too young to understand how they could hate her so. The ones that stared at her like she was a strange animal were even worse. And that hated word, the one they always repeated…

"Rini! Rini, it's over!" The bard slowly came back to herself. All her muscles were aching, her body was covered with sweat. There was the taste of blood in her mouth, and she realized that she'd bitten herself. "It's over," Imoen's voice said. "She's dead."

Rini stared at the corpse in front of her. Yes, Kirian certainly was dead. More than dead. She was a bloody, chunky mess, barely recognizable as having once been human. "I…I'm sorry Immy," the half-elf breathed, not wanting to look her friend in the face. "I lost it. I'm so sorry." Some distance away she could hear Jaheira telling Khalid to be careful not to rise too quickly. Edwin was muttering something about 'lack of worthy opponents'. So they were all alive then. That was a relief. At least she hadn't killed them in her madness, like poor Brage had his own family.

And then she felt Imoen's arm around her shoulder, pulling her close. "Hey," the human girl said, her voice filled with nothing but love. "I remember what things were like in Candlekeep, you know. The things that happened. I understand."

"Oh, Immy. I couldn't survive without you, you do know that?"

The pink-haired thief smiled. "Don't you worry. I'm not going anywhere. What kind of a best friend would I be then, anyway? A pretty poopy one, I'd say."

"Poopy?" Rini asked, not being able to hold back a grin.

"Well…you know what I mean."

"I do. And I thank you for it. Nobody could wish for a better best friend." Imoen's face turned as bright a pink as her hair.

While they had survived the battle, it hadn't been done without some cost. Jaheira was out of healing spells, and Rini had used what she could of her own healing ability as well. It seemed unsafe to go much further into unknown territory without resting first, so the adventurers decided to move a little distance away from the scene of the battle and then set up camp. They didn't get very far into the forest before they heard yet another strange voice addressing them, a harsh and gritty one. "Wait," it said, "me no want fight, me Korax, me friend!"

Zaerini stared with surprise at the speaker. Vaguely humanoid in form, its flesh was gray and rotting, its fangs long and sharp and there were things beneath its hideous yellow nails that she was really glad she couldn't identify. "You want to be our friend?" she asked. "Well, that's very nice of you. Er…isn't it a little unusual for a ghoul though? I mean, don't you usually want to eat live people?"

The ghoul's pale eyes glittered with unshed tears. "Khorax so very lonely," he sobbed. "Me not want kill nice peoplessss, but nassssty mean ones not want be Khorax' friends, even when he asksss nicely. Then Khorax killsss them and eatssss them and sssucksss the tasssty juicccesss from their marrowssss, oh yes."

"Oh," Rini said. "That's…uh…reasonable."

"Well, I think it's sad," Imoen said. "Poor Khorax. We'll be your friends. Right, guys?"

"But…," Jaheira started to say. Edwin cut her off. "Of course," he said. "We are very friendly. (Fighting it would serve no real purpose, and an extra pawn can do no harm.)"

"Right," Khalid agreed. "F-f-friends. That's u-us."

"Oh goody!" Khorax squealed. "Me will be good boy, me promisssse. Me will help you with anything you need." He jumped up and down with glee, giggling and chortling to himself. Then, before Zaerini had the time to react, he hugged her tightly and planted a slobbery kiss onto her mouth. The stench was bad enough that she almost threw up. The taste wasn't any better. "Nice Mistressss!" Khorax said. "Ssssweet Mistressss! Khorax helpsss nice Mistresss and friendsss. Happy Khorax not lonely no more!" He gave Rini an adoring look. "You maybe wantsss be more than friendsss with handssssome Khorax? Me gotsss thisss nice engagement ring somewhere, Khorax found it one day after he had a really bad belly ache. Khorax alwaysss eatsss too quickly, doesn't always notice thessse thingsss… What you say?"

"Ah…," Rini managed, hoping her reaction didn't show on her face. "Er…Khorax, you're a nice guy. A very nice guy. And…and this has nothing to do with you. It's me. I…I just don't think I'm ready for that sort of thing yet. Let's just be friends."

The ghoul's face fell a little, and he absentmindedly stuck his nose back on. "Oh," he said. "That's sssad. What say you other nice ladiesss?"

"I'm a married woman," Jaheira said, quickly enough that she almost stumbled over her own words.

"I've got a boyfriend," Imoen said. "Sorry. He's really jealous." The ghoul sighed mournfully, but he didn't press the issue.

"Boyfriend?" Zaerini mouthed to her friend as they moved on. "What's this then?"

Imoen smiled mysteriously. "Sorry," she said. "It's a secret."

"Why?"

"Well," Imoen explained, "he's a little shy I think. It's really sweet too, the way he tries to pretend he isn't madly in love with me. And he's sooo cute!" Her grin widened and her eyes went a little unfocused. "Now I just need to find out what his name is and where he lives, and then it'll be eternal bliss."

"Right," Rini said. "Good Luck then. Er…just be careful, would you?" Something tells me he isn't quite as interested as Immy thinks, she thought. I just hope the poor man doesn't have a jealous wife. I'd really hate to have to fish my best friend out of a river for poaching on somebody else's territory.