"That worries me," the paladin says.
"Perhaps I can shed some light on what's going on now," Elena says, walking up to the group.
Arista looks over at the Elena, "Would you like to come with us then? We are all kinda headed to the tavern to talk about some stuff, if you have any information on these strange disappearances...we would be most grateful, kind lady."
Elena smiles and nods. "Yes, lead the way, Arista."
Cyna shrugs. "Right behind you."
"Umm, okay...." Arista sighs again and shakes her head as she leads the others to the tavern.
"I was really trying to abstain today," Sienna sighs. "Oh well."
Her tone lifts a little as the group walks to the tavern.
As they sit down at a table Arista looks apologetically at Sienna, "I'm really really sorry, but I don't think I can talk about this stuff without a drink, and I really didn't want to do it around the other villagers."
She sighs as she signals for the barkeep.
Sādhanā remains quiet, taking a series of slow deep breaths as they walk toward the tavern. Her eyes make it clear that her mind is working on piecing things together.
Sitting down at the table she squeezes Alethiro's hand while nodding at him, letting him know that she's okay and knew she would have to do this eventually.
Once they get their get their drinks Arista takes a long pull off of her tankard of ale.
Taking a deep breath she just sort of dives into the explanation.
"Okay...well, I'm not really sure where to start at....but about 2 days ago Alethiro and I were having breakfast with Drago and Elena here when Drago had some kind of vision." She takes another drink or two of her ale and puts it back down.
"Apparently he saw his mother, Chalandra Skorzeny planning on leaving in a carriage....for here. She's on her way here...but we aren't exactly sure why. Drago has some guesses as to what she wants, and none of them are good....so, there's that."
She finishes her first tankard of ale and signals for another. Once it gets to her she takes another sip before continuing.
"The other thing, which I only found out about this morning...so I'm sorry Cyna but I didn't even have a chance to tell you this....any of you really...but, apparently there is some really bad guy named Sefirous that Skaar used to know. He's somehow sold his soul and is now some kind of daemon, bent on getting Skaar over on his side. While we were all doing our running around yesterday, this piece of shit bastard went into Corda's shop and threatened her....not just her....but also the child of Skaar that she now carries inside of her."
She takes another sip of the ale and looks directly at Sadhana, "I am soo very sorry I didn't tell you sooner, and I know this is alot to take in....but I just wanted the both of you to at least have a day or two where you could just be together without worrying about anything. Whenever I saw you together, you were so...happy and I...I just didn't want to ruin that for you."
She looks down and wipes her eyes with her sleeve.
"As far as to why they have gone off today, I can't be sure of....but I'm sure it will come to no good. Especially if they run into Sefirous, or Gods forbid Reindhardt, who is..in case anyone forgot...still roaming around these woods somewhere. Again....I'm...I'm just so sorry, I hope you can forgive me."
She sniffles again and wiping her eyes again on her sleeve takes another long pull off of her ale.
"I see..." Clara mutters, but her expression brightens. "But you didn't need to hide this from us. There's always going to be something to worry about here. Sādhanā and I know that. It...hurts, thinking that you have to hide things like this from us. We understand. Don't we, love?"
"Well, a daemon..." Sienna says, taking a long drink. "I guess that covers the three D's. But that means that things are going to get messy from here on out."
"Then that would explain why those four left," Elena says finally. "Drago, Skaar, Harakhty and that dark woman left to go investigating a ley line. I suppose they believe they can use it to protect Valwick."
Her expression darkens for a moment as the vishkanya is lost in thought.
Arista looks up at Clara, her eyes shine with tears.
"I'm sorry, but I felt I had to. We had barely gotten into town and then everything happened so fast. Yes, I know there will always be something going on, but I would be damned if I let it ruin your day. With everything the two of you had been through...I just felt that you deserved a couple worry free days...that's all. I didn't mean any harm."
Arista just shakes her head at Elena's statement, "What ley lines? I have no idea what's going on now, but don't they realize we have a better chance of protecting those we care about if we stick together? By going off like that...all they've managed to do is separate us and make us weaker."
She just continues to shake her head in disbelief and drinks some more ale.
"Men can be stupid," Elena says simply.
Cyna takes a sip of her drink before speaking up.
"More stuff to add to the list I guess. Who's the woman they left with?" Cyna asks.
"Sometimes....it sure seems that way." She looks over at Alethiro and smiles weakly, "No offense dear, just venting is all."
Very quiet for a moment Sādhanā listens to Arista's words, a dark expression crossing her face at the mention of Reinhardt. She closes her eyes, taking a deep breath before slowly letting it out.
Opening her eyes she looks down at the table for a second, squeezing Clara's hand before looking up at Arista across the table.
"There's nothing to forgive. You didn't need to hide it from us, but you did it to protect us and I couldn't really ask for more from a friend."
Looking at Clara she smiles wanly "We do understand, it's part of life here that makes days like today all the more special, but there's always the next big bad to take down."
She takes a long sip of her drink.
"I've seen her about but I know nothing about her," Elena admits. "I suppose that should be troubling in itself."
Arista considers Cyna's question for a moment, "I have no idea...I don't believe she's even bothered to introduce herself to most of us. Most suspicious that one is, and mysterious as well. I don't like mysterious, mysterious leads to trouble."
After a moment of thought Cyna says "Ah. Well. If I had to guess I'd say this ley line will most likely lead our guys in Vencious's direction. Which isn't good, but I don't think they would travel that far without telling the rest of us."
"Hmm, if she took Skaar out to investigate "ley lines"..." Sienna giggles, using her fingers to emphasize her sarcasm. "She'll be in for one heck of a surprise!"
Arista nearly spits out her ale in a fit of laughter.
"A good laugh always lightens the mood," Sienna says. "Alright, so what do we do now? I don't think they're dumb enough to follow that line all the way to Vencious, but, like Gerard said, the southern part of his domain is heavily patrolled."
Alethiro just sat back and listened to everything being said. He remained silent, unsure what he could add to the conversation.
Arista listens quietly to Sadhana, her eyes still misty. She takes a napkin and wipes off her face, trying to get her feelings under control.
"Thank you...I really am sorry and I'll never keep anything from any of you again, I swear it."
She gets up from her seat and goes over to the girls, giving each of them a hug. She then returns to her seat next to Alethiro and pats his hand.
Corda walked in and said, "Hey, what's with moving the party and not telling me?" She then noticed the dour looks on most of their faces. "Uh oh, what happened?"
"So we're counting on Drago, Harakhty and Skaar realizing that this was a bad idea in the first place and turning back. Wonderful."Sādhanā mutters. "I can't see Skarr deliberately leaving Corda alone for too long without warning anyone, or Drago going off without making sure you're safe for that matter" she says looking at Elena.
Cyna laughs into her palm. "I really hope Skaar can show restraint with a kiddo on the way. He's seriously going to injure someone someday."
"No, but he is noble enough to do anything for my safety, even if he throws himself to the wolves," Elena says, trying to hold back tears.
Arista looks up at Corda, "Come on and have a seat dearest, I just told them everything about Chalandra coming and Sefirous. You should really be resting, did you get enough to eat? Would you like some tea or something?"
At hearing the pain in Elena's voice Arista looks at her, forgetting her own worries, "I'm sure he will realize how foolish it is to leave you, he's not that stupid."
"Little pig, little pig, let me in..." a growling voice says from the trees.
Moments later, a large werewolf emerges and stares at Harakhty. "We meet again, vanara. You shouldn't be here."
"I can try to catch up with them on my horse? They're on the right track but they don't have enough information to be venturing on their own like this." Cyna suggests.
This can't be good. Drago thought as he pulled one hand back ready to throw a spell at the creature.
"I wouldn't do that," Reinhardt growls at Drago. "You smell...like Chalandra Skorzeny."
Arista considers Cyna's suggestion for a moment, "I...don't know...in case they ran into trouble I would hate for you to go alone."
She pauses for a minute, "But we can't just let them walk into a trap either....is there any way that maybe Sienna can go with you or something? I just hate the thought of you going by yourself, and we don't even know what direction they went in. If only there was a way of more of us going, but I don't want to leave the others here unprotected either...."
She looks at Sadhana, "What do you think we should do?"
Drago was taken aback at the mention on his mother's name. "How do you know that name?"
Arista looks up at Corda, "Come on and have a seat dearest, I just told them everything about Chalandra coming and Sefirous. You should really be resting, did you get enough to eat? Would you like some tea or something?"
"Oh I had plenty, but I'll probably be hungry again in a couple hours." She replied while taking a seat.
"Well if I can't find their tracks I would have needed Sienna to find the Lay Line anyway. You can do that right?" Cyna asks.
"I'm not sure. Cyna's horse is the fastest way to get to them, and you're the best tracker," she says looking at the ranger, "But even with the two of you, going alone just seems like trying to fix a mistake with another mistake."
"We would need to contact them fast to let them know to turn back. That wizard that moved here, Micheal I think. Maybe he can view them remotely or send a message to warn them." the magus frowns slightly trying to run through a number of possible options.
"Any other thoughts love?" she says turning to Clara.
"What do you want of us, two-spirit? Do you plan to rend and tear? Or do you wish to speak?"
"I'm here with my own agenda. I am warning you to leave, dark elf. No, not exactly a dark elf," Reinhardt growls. "As for Chalandra, I met her before Jezelda showed me my true path."
Something about this beast unerved Drago. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he thought it best to take his advice and return to the village. Moving up behind Nicatha and said, "I think it might be wise if we leave. I don't think we're going to get another chance."