5.2 - Escalation (Patreon)

5.2 -Escalation

Shadowheart

“X-men maybe?”

Hess snorted at Madison’s suggestion. “That Earth Aleph comic book thing? Fuck no.”

“Come on! You can’t tell me you can’t just hear Durge’s voice calling “‘To me, My X-men’. Heck, I think I might even be able to pull off the theme song with the violin!”

It looked like the girl was actually just about ready to try too.

“When the hell did you become a nerd?” Hess asked, raising an eyebrow as if only just seeing Clements for the first time. 

“Focus.” She tried to put some bite in her voice but failed. The strangeness of the conversation, the silliness really, made her smile. “What on earth is a comic book anyway? Is it meant to make one laugh?”

“It's some stupid nerd shit.” Hess dismissed.

“It’s not!... Well, it is nerdy but it’s not stupid!” Madison defended. 

“I don’t know what that means either.” Shadowheart.

“Comics are like…” Madison paused, her features scrunching up. “Think of them like picture books. Artists drawing out whole stories in different arranged panels. Each panel shows something different as the story progresses. They can have a lot of subjects but Earth Aleph most famous ones are with capes, groups of capes like Sophia and Taylor in a team. One of those is called ‘The X Men’” She grinned. “It could be a fun name, if we go all in on it.” The fact that no one gets the reference over here is just a bonus. 

From the description Shadowheart vaguely understood the concept, although, how many artists would it take to create those images? How did they keep the images the same? The more she thought of it the more it felt like simple books and letters would be far less complicated. Perhaps they had an advanced printing press of some sort for images? “And her calling you a Nerd?”

“Oh! A nerd is… well, someone like Gale.”

Said Wizard turned and looked at them somewhat perplexedly over his shoulder. “I beg your pardon?”

“It’s not bad really.” Madison shuffled a little bit foot to foot. “Its sort of like… someone who spends a lot of time studying? Or reading? Or has err… non athletic hobbies?”

Gale was still raising a rather incredulous eyebrow. “I get the feeling I am missing a vast array of context.”

“Yeah, but generally its meant to designate someone who reads or studies a lot.”

“Alright.” Shadowheart shook her head. “Planeswalker factoids aside, we really should focus. We have our assigned task and there’s no reason to return empty handed or late because we were distracted. 

“We’re looking through buildings. We can’t really miss em!” Sophia contested.

More specifically they were looking for any building along the far outskirts of the village that would serve as adequate shelter. It needed to be along the outskirts because if the Goblins from either the temple or the large raiding party returned then the distance would give everyone enough warning to leave while also being close enough to be aware of those movements. 

A cave or particularly thick patch of forest would also suffice… but Shadowheart would truly prefer a roof over her head and floors under her back tonight. 

For all that lady Shar was the mistress of the night a root poking her in the backside all night did not make for a good night’s sleep. 

The others each had their tasks as well.

Hebert had mentioned that some of the homes in the village had very strange Cellars, or basements as she’d called them. So she, Durge, Karlach and Lae’zel were searching through them.

And Barnes, Wyll, Astarion and the Gnome, Barcus were scouring the village for any useful supplies the Goblins might have had. Particularly edible foodstuffs. 

Truthfully, Shadowheart was glad for the task. She… needed to get out of that village. Something about it scratched at her mind like a persistent itch. A familiarity that burned and made the mark on her hand flare up with phantom pain from Lady Shar’s touch. It was… disquieting.

“What about that Barn over there?” Madison suddenly pointed.

Shadowheart turned, following her direction and yes, there was a barn, nearly overgrown with vines, it was hard to see from a distance, and it looked whole. A fair distance from the village, it was almost ideal. 

“Lets go and check. But it does look promising.” She admitted and the girl looked pleased. Such a simple comment making her smile. 

As they approached however it was impossible to miss a very odd, very rhythmic sound emerging from inside of it.

“What is that?” Gale asked, curious.

“I don’t know, but with our luck; Nothing good is a safe bet.” She answered, drawing her mace and shield. “Ready yourselves just incase.

She needn’t have bothered with the weapons but…

She was right. It really was nothing good.

—

Taylor

Everything… hurt.

Now that the adrenaline had worn off, and I wasn’t letting… foreign muscle memory dictate my actions and reactions that… stunt I’d pulled off with the ladder was coming back to bite me… 

Everywhere.

My shoulders hurt, my forearms, my legs, ass, thighs. Shit even my fingers hurt from the white knuckled grip I’d had on the damn thing and the shock of the impacts when I’d hit the goblins with it running up my arms. 

I didn’t want to move. I wanted to lie down on the floor, any floor and just not even breathe until everything stopped hurting. 

But I didn’t slow down, as much as every single muscle fibre sang with stinging pain I kept moving. Not just because we didn’t really have the luxury of sitting down given the danger around us but also because… weakness also wasn’t a luxury I could afford right now. 

The Cellar under the apothecary’s… home? Shop? It was extensive, that normally wouldn’t catch my eye, I know some basements were pretty big. But when you notice multiple false walls… It makes one curious.

So… down we went.

I pointed out the false walls, helped search for ways to open them, was flabbergasted when behind the first false wall there was another false wall hidden by, of all things, a magic talking mirror, asking about some guy called Szass Tam or something, Durge answered whatever it was asking correctly and the thing opened up to reveal what looked like a hidden lab.

There were dissection tables, multiple skeletons diagrams of those skeletons, a bed and what looked like a chemistry set.

“Careful.” Durge said softly as we stepped inside. “A question regarding Szass Tam as an entry password can mean nothing good.”

“Why? Who is he?” 

“Leader of the Red Wizards of Thay. Necromancers. If it seems dangerous it likely is. Careful.” He warned again. 

Necromancy.

I should have figured that was a thing…

I looked around. Immediately I took notice of the extensive library of old books. Eying some of the titles written along the spines they looked like medical books. 

Add in the skeletons and it didn’t paint a pretty picture.

Lae’zel’s lip curled as she squinted at the skeleton of what might have been a large fish of some kind hanging from the ceiling. Sighing in something approaching aggravation.

“What is it?” I asked out of curiosity as the woman shook her head. 

“Why preserve things like this? Script and diagrams should suffice, the rest is simply excess.”

“Some people like decorations.” Karlach shrugged. “Usually less… bony decorations but decorations. 

As we entered the room, Durge immediately took notice of a sealed off room, bars like a jail cell obstructing the path. And inside it was a single book on a stand. 

“Ahh, nothing quite says ‘steal this thing’ like iron bars eh?.” Karlach said. 

I saw Durge’s smile “Quite so.” He remarked, stepping forward, a hand on the bars before he pulled the door rattling. “We might need Hess or Astarion.”

“Nah mate!” Karlach smiled, stepping forward. “You’ve got me. Step back a bit.”

Durge raised a brow ridge but made a show of bowing out.

Did the woman seriously have the strength to rip the door off? It looked like solid steel.

But… no, Karlach just placed her hands on the lock.

And then, she got hot.

It was like a furnace had suddenly been opened up right in my face, all three of us reeled back from it, the large woman roared, the heat rising  until the whole room felt like a sauna.

And then with a sound of steel bubbling and hissing, the lock was melted after a few seconds.

“Phew.” Karlach smiled, turning to us with a look of triumph  holding the melted slag that had been the lock in her fist. “Handy eh?”

“How do you even do that?” I asked. “I’d normally think its a power like mine but-”

“Nah love.” the red woman pounded a fist against her chest where I heard the distinct sound of her striking metal. “Infernal engine for a heart.”

“In the hells correct? Zariel?” Durge recalled, stepping forward and gingerly grabbing the heated door to pull it open.

Karlach’s features darkened. “Yeah. Fucker named Gortash sold me to Zariel I was… eighteen I think? Yeah. Gives me a hell of a power up, but-” She held out her hands, emphasizing the flames dancing along her skin. “Kinda makes it hard to touch anyone safely.”

“Will you kill this Gortash for what he’s done?” Lae’zel asked.

“First chance I get!” Now Karlach’s grin came back, but it was savage and her eyes danced with a hatred that looked foreign on her features. “Then I’m gettin a wish spell to do it over again!”

Lae’zel nodded. “Understandable.”

As she said it, I caught a look from her out of the corner of my eye and in spite of myself, I felt my hackles rise. “Is there something you want to say?” I asked, crossing my arms. 

The Gith seemed to eye me for a second, frowning. “She makes sense. You do not.” She finally answered. “Someone has wronged her, she wishes revenge. The three others of your home have wronged you and you do nothing, even though you have the power to.”

“Hey now-” Karlach started, but I cut her off. 

“I’m not going to be like them.” I said, the old statement rushing immediately to the forefront. But Lae’zel’s features twisted.

“That is a coward’s excuse. Did you killing the Hag turn you into the Hag? No.”

“That’s different!”

“No.” The singular word the easy dismissal made my hackles rise, and the insects buzzed around us.

“That is enough.” Durge rumbled, emerging from where he’d gone to fetch the book, now holding it in hand.  “Her people are not Githyanki. Her customs are no less different to you than yours are to her.”

“It is not a matter of custom, it is a simple principle. Someone wrongs you, you defend yourself.

“And what if you can't?" I shot back. “What if the whole thing is stacked so far against you even trying just makes things worse. In spite of myself I pulled on the foreign knowledge of the Gith I held locked away in my brain. If you were G’lathk, and the others are Mlar, Hr’a’cknir and Gish, with the Ghustil and Varsh favoring them and a Ch’r’ai to shield them?

“No beast is unkillable and no system unbeatable. You merely lacked the will to do so and made excuses to justify it.”

I practically saw red, and the next words that spilled out of my mouth were entirely unnatural in how natural they were. “Fagh wo'h chox!” 

Now Lae’zel was smirking even as the insects buzzed around the room with genuine anger. “You would fight me but not them. You prove my point.”

“I said enough.” Now Durge stepped between us looking sternly at both me and Lae’zel

“Chk” 

A tense silence fell between us the insects slowly calming as I tried to find my own calm again.

“That book has a face on it.”

Karlach’s comment was so absurd, so ridiculous I had to actually do a double take and look at the book in Durge’s hand. 

And… yeah. Yeah. It had a face, a screaming skull like face…

“...Is that bound in human skin?”

Durge held it up. “Yes. You can always tell the difference because human leather dries much more stretched. The lack of moisture shrivels it much more than cow hide or other such materia…”

He trailed off.

Probably because of the looks me and Karlach were giving him.

The Dragonborn cleared his throat. “Regardless. I sense a great deal of power hidden away here. Should I be able to read it it might give valuable insight.”

 “Oh no.” Karlach shook her head. “Please don’t open the creepy book! I’ve read this story. Everyone died horribly.”

The statement made a smile twitch on my lips. ‘I’ve seen this movie the Black dude dies first’ Was a joke Dad said sometimes when he had to go down to our basement in the dark. 

Durge shrugged. “It will be fine.”

“It was literally locked behind bars. Something tells me it was probably to keep the book in now!” Karlach contested. 

“You’re being dramatic.”

I looked at Karlach, she looked at me. 

We were in agreement.

“If you die we get to say we told you so.” The large red woman said. 

—

We met up with the others when we ascended from the cellar. In short, they had found food, and even some ‘infernal iron’ hidden away in the smithy. Barcus seemed excited over it, though he’d need a forge to work it at some point if it was ever gonna be anything more than a lump of metal. 

I stayed away from Emma, ignored her as much as I could, even with my bugs. The argument with Lae’zel was still fresh in my mind and if Emma even said one word to me I didn’t trust how I’d react right now. 

Carrying our supplies, and the very creepy book out of the town, we soon met up with the rest of the group. 

And what we found was… perplexing.

Shadowheart was laughing, full on belly laughs, tears leaking from her eyes, Gale was looking quite off balance, Sophia was laying down on the very high branch of a tree, not looking at anyone and Madison was… blushing?

What the fuck had happened?

After a very long, very stuttering, explanation, I understood, and realized that I was so glad I hadn’t been here to warn them ahead of time. Petty vengeance or not, the idea that Madison and Sophia had walked in on a bug bear and an Ogre having sex was thoroughly hilarious to me. 

—

“Okay so!”  Madison placed down the length of parchment. “We’ve narrowed it down to five possible names!

“Three!” I heard Sophia hiss back. “We are not calling ourselves the X men or the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Most of us are women! I like The Convicted!”

“Okay Edgelord.” Madison giggled.

“The fuck you say to me!?”

“Queensmen has a nice ring to it.” Karlach was by the open doorway, fear that she’d accidentally burn down the barn due to some of the dry hay keeping her far enough away

“There’s no queen though.”

“Honestly if we are going to be traveling together for the foreseeable future it might indeed be beneficial to name this party.” Shadowheart said to Durge. “Amusing or not, we will eventually need funds to supply ourselves.”

He nodded. He still seemed distracted by the book. He, Gale and Barcus had tried to open it but it was sealed by magic. Without the key it would take time to bypass the seal, or so I understood.

Night had already fallen. We were in the barn. Everyone was staying clear of the spot where the Ogre and Bugbear had been doing the dirty, but there was plenty of room for all of us. The fire was a smaller thing than normal, but it could afford to be. Insulated and inside, it was warm enough.

“Actually- we really don’t know that much about eachother.” Madison stated quietly. “It looks like we’re going to travel together for a bit so we might as well get some of our histories.

“Oh not much to tell.” Astarion answered lazily from his place on the second story ‘mezannine, overlooking the lower part of the barn. He was laying down, one foot dangling off the edge. “I’m a magistrate in the city. It’s all rather tedious really.”

“Well, in my youth-” Gale began with a boastful sort of air. I got the impression that he was rather happy to talk about himself. “I was a student of Blackstaff academy in waterdeep. I was quite good, before the tadpole of course. I must’ve been, oh… fourteen perhaps when I opened a portal into Limbo; that’s where I encountered a Slaad for the first time-”

As Gale went on for a bit, happily taking hold of the spotlight I pictured where this conversation was going.  I could see Emma’s smile from across the fire, and though she wasn’t looking at me I could feel it. I could see how Sophia, sitting next to Astarion was looking down on the group ready to pounce, Madison with her cutesy act making everyone put their guard down, saw how everyone would start sharing and when it came down to me they’d ask… and I had no interest in it.

Not because of them, but because anything I said the fucking Trio would save as ammo to use later.

And I had no interest in giving them a bigger clip.

I stood up, and excused myself. In a somewhat backwards sense of luck, the fact that there were no bathrooms here meant that this wasn’t an uncommon thing, and so Gale made no note of it, continuing to give a very detailed account of his history as I walked off into the crisp night air, deciding to stay away until I felt the conversation die down.

It worked… for a short while at least.

The person that came out looking for me was neither expected nor welcome.

“Hey, Taylor?”

Madison stood there, shuffling from foot to foot and looking at the floor. 

“Ummm, C-can we talk?”

(X)(X)(X)

Next chapter we get an overdue conversation. And a very pleasant surprise >:)