Hello, Everyone!
Last time, after finding out about the death of Bruno's sister Paulina, our heroes tried asking Granny Gretel for some help to get to Pamagos and see if they could help. She refused and this sent Mary into an angry fit. She was sure that the hag was somehow screwing them over. And when the group found out that Granny had taken Diohastos’ skin even though she'd told them she didn't need it, that anger erupted into an argument.
Many things were revealed, many grievances voiced. Finally, our heroes decided to leave things with the hag as they were and head out on foot.
They went outside and closed the door of the Hut behind them. The silence was deafening. Bruno and Agatha went ahead, preparing their things for the journey, but Mary stayed with Aurum.
“Is it true that you like Granny Gretel more than all of us?
"Wh–"
"You said it in the Hut. 'I like you more than everyone else'. Is it really so?"
"No, I…" Aurum chuckled. "I meant that I like her more than you guys like her. Sorry it came out that way."
Mary huffed. Now that she thought about it, that made way more sense than what she'd initially thought.
“Why do you trust her so much?" she said.
“Because she reminds me of my Abuela."
Mary looked at him with expectation. Aurum sighed.
"Back in the circus I had a grandma. She was my father's mother and the only one I was close with. You know, everyone else used me for their own gains, but she cared about me. One day she and my folks had a fall out, and she left. I haven’t seen her ever since.”
He stared at the snowy ground.
"You know, she's the reason I became an adventurer. I left the circus to try and find her, but it seemed that she didn't want to be found. So, I joined you guys instead."
"I'm sorry she's not with you," Mary said. "But Granny is not your Abuela! Don't make the mistake of trusting her. It's dangerous to trust a hag. If you want, after all this is done, we'll help you find your Abuela. Just be careful until then!"
The bard nodded.
The journey to Frinkeltong was going to be difficult in the snow, especially without any roads to travel on. But it was better to go there, have some rest, prepare for the coming fight, and only then teleport to Pamagos.
To make the travel a bit quicker and less uncomfortable, Mary used a new iteration of her Familiar spell. She'd been working on it for a while now, but never had the chance to test it out. She opened her book and, from a small pocket she'd added on the back cover, took out a folded piece of paper. It was a crudely made origami horse, and it had a piece of paper fanning out of its back.
After all this time, Mary was not getting much better at origami.
She held out the paper horse and whispered the spell into his form. It started growing, and growing, and it changed. The piece of paper on its back turned into wings. Soon, they were looking at a brand new pegasus familiar, almost as beautiful and grand as the real thing.
"Her name is Karina," she said. "She won't be able to carry all of us together, so I'm going to have to summon another," she said apologetically.
She didn't tell them the name of the second pegasus. They didn’t have to know that she’d called her 'Lanurey'.
The pegasi didn't manage to get them all the way to Frinkeltong, but they flew them pretty close. This time the group was at the city gates long before nightfall and they were let in just in time for the fiesta.
Mary still couldn't believe that the people were so cheerful, not suspecting of all the horrors happening in the world at the moment. But maybe not knowing was the way to go. She, too, would have been cheerful if she didn't know about Nurvureem or Paulina’s fate.
The four of them needed to rest up and prepare before they had to face the Black dragon, and so they decided to spend the night at Mary's home.
"So, are we sleeping on your couches?" Agatha said. "I guess you'll be off to your room..."
"I don't have a room anymore," Mary mumbled as she prepared her bedroll. "Lilly refurbished it after I went off adventuring. It's her dancing studio now. "
It still hurt a little. It was like the moment she'd taken off, Lilly and Bramble had cleared every trace of her out of their life. The sudden feeling of homelessness hit her and she felt tears trying to make their way through her eyes. She shushed them away. No use crying over things that were already gone.
To pass the time without having to think about all her heartbreaks, Mary opened the library book on Dark Artefacts and sank into it. She quickly paged through the chapters to look for the weapon that had destroyed Balaine Endoras’ soul. There was the sword Scorpius which would cut out memories along with the flesh. There was a glass axe which was said to have been used only once, shattering on impact and ruining its victim's soul along with itself.
And there it was, a few pages later. 'The horrible axe' that Balaine Endoras' dead head had described. The weapon Tesaya had used to destroy his soul. Its name was Fragarach The Soulrender and it was, indeed, horrifying. It was big and crude, black-handled, with a double jagged blade with the colour of rust. It looked like it was bleeding. Instead of cutting into the flesh, it would tear it up, and the wounds made by it could never be healed. And, of course, it destroyed the souls of its victims. 'A permanent Morgantian blade’, the text said. Like the daggers, but a thousand times worse. So worse, in fact, that it had once belonged to an Archdevil.
That's what they were going to face when they fought Tesaya. The possibility of destroying their souls.
That episode was a breather. A much needed one, since in the next chapter, we’re heading towards Pamagos where--I don’t know if you know--there’s a Black dragon awaiting our heroes.
See you then! Take care and be well!
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide, the Glossaries (Part 1 and Part 2)
and the Map for the series. You're welcome!)
An important disclaimer: Mary Windfiddle's story is my notes from a D&D game turned into a narrative. All the worldbuilding and NPC encounters belong to our DM, and all the actions of the other main characters (Aurum, Bruno and Agatha) belong to my co-players. My contribution to the story is only everything Mary-related (actions, reactions, inner thoughts), as well as the writing itself.