'Ah,of course. I forget." the Weird says, although Sevak wonders if it is telling the truth. "I find your light harsh and dangerous, but if you need it, go ahead."
Without waiting Hyo Soon summons her magical light back into being, and soon there are three globes of floating blue light above their heads. They throw the small fungal forest into a strange soft relief.
Sevak tries to position himself such that the Weird is in his shadow, blocking the brightest of the light from it.
He does not trust this thing at all. It is a dangerous and intelligent predator... and yet, much like its home, there is a strange sort of beauty to it. But it is the tiger's beauty, to be observed warily with no expectation of safety.
"Thank you, Hyo Soon," he says, nodding to her, hoping she can see the apology in his gaze.
He turns and starts to follow the Weird. "Now, what is this price you ask of me?" he questions.
The powerful, muscular snake leads them to a fungus shrouded doorway leading deeper into the palace. The entrance stands like a portal to the home of midnight.
As they pass in, the Weird speaks, "My price is simple. I desire to feed." The bright green tounge flicks out, tasting the air as it leads Sevak and his friends onward. Sevak notes Hyo Soon is still pale and trembling. Paq meanwhile is nearly painfully alert, half crouching, ears swiveling.
'I of course, do not ask you to give up your friends. Simply bring me some of these bandits."
Sevak stops in his tracks.
"No," he states, emphatically. "Animals I would bring you, but not men, even men I must kill."
He realizes this might not make sense to the Weird, and tries to explain. "Among humanoids, it is considered a very wrong thing to eat the corpses of other humanoids, or even to let it be eaten by others. As I said, I would be willing to find other meat for you, but not the meat of men."
The whole group stops around Sevak, clustered together in the dim passageway. Paq simply shrugs and Sevak wonders what the ratfolk's view on food is. Paq has expressed less then...picky habits before. Hyo Soon is nodding in agreement with Sevak however.
The Weird turns, lifting its head off the ground.
"So you will attack them, drive them out of their homes, even kill them but not let me eat them? A useful purpose, the best that their evil lot can accomplish. Why do you care?"
"Do you care what meat you eat?" Sevak asks in return, stalling for time as he tries to think of a good answer. "As I said, I can hunt animals and bring you their flesh in trade for your aid."
"As for why... it is a complex thing, but perhaps the heart of it is that to feed others the flesh of men treats them as nothing more than unthinking animals, when I would wish them to be something more." Sevak sighs, frustrated at his own inability to articulate the reasons.
The weird shakes his head, "I desire the flesh of these men. It is not such a grand thing to ask. Do you not plan to slay them already?"
A pause then the snake tilts its head, as if thinking. Slowly it hisses, 'Perhaps a compromise? Do as you will, kill them, defeat them. I just ask this, leave the bodies to me. Do not dispose of them after your victory."
'Let nature takes its course. Let this tunnels and caverns fill with the plants and animals as it once was, before these...bandits came. Leave their bodies to feed us, to feed me."
Hyo Soon looks quite sick as this plan but Paq merely shrugs.
Sevak hesitates a long moment. On the one hand, he little likes the idea of deliberately leaving bodies to be eaten... on the other, it is true that it would, in a fashion, simply be letting nature take its course. And truth be told, how many foes had he simply left lying dead upon the ground, to be fed upon by whatever happened along? Why was this any worse than that?
Finally he says, "There is one thing we will need. The head of their leader, as proof of our deed. As for the rest... I will leave them where they fall. I will warn the other bandits that they will find danger if they come within to claim the bodies of their fallen, but I will not stop them if they come in regardless. Is this acceptable to you?"
Hyo Soon looks rather disgusted but doesn't dare say anything else right now, alone in a fungus laden tunnel.
The Weird ponders this deal for a few moments, green tongue dancing. Sevak notes the tip of the tail sways slowly, pushing tiny piles of dust.
Finally it says, "Very well." A pause then, 'Let us hope you kill many then. It has been long since I have truly fed on worthy prey."
Sevak nods warily. He, of course, hopes to kill as few as possible of them.
Without further ado the weird leads them into a tangle of narrow passages, into deep darkness. It is a dark and strange journey, guided by a very unusual creature. They pass through wide chambers that Sevak guesses were vast dining halls or temples. Other corridors are so narrow, they push squeeze through, scraping on the crumbling stone walls. The further they go the drier it becomes and the fungus slowly fades away.
Finally, the Weird pauses and points ahead.
'If you go farther, you will enter a tunnel. The left wall will be rubble, long fallen in. It is a thin layer of loose tumbled stones. Just on the other side stands the living space of the Light Bringer. Sometimes there are many in there, other times, not as many."
Sevak nods warily. "Then we shall have to listen to hear how many there are," he states.
Unless the Weird says more, he will go in the direction indicated, waving to indicate Paq and Hyo Soon should follow.
The three of them leave the Weird behind and head into the narrow tunnel. As they were told, one wall is a rough pile of dusty stones, loosely piled. There are lots of chinks and cracks in the makeshift wall, and Sevak can feel air passing through.
As they distance from the fungus snake Paq mutters, 'You never deal with normal people, do you Sevak. It is always immortal god toads or fungus snakes."
Hyo Soon ignores this and merely says, "Well, I'm glad you said whatever it takes to get us out of here. This place is very creepy." She sounds quite unenthused with the whole plan.
Sevak sighs. "I hardly planned for any of this," he says in response to both comments.
As they near the wall, he lowers his voice. "Hyo Soon, please keep your lights back. We do not want to get them too close to the wall, or they might betray our presence."
With that, he creeps closer to the wall and listens.
Sevak leans against the rubble wall, trying to hear inside. It is not very difficult.
He hears several raised, angry voices. They are men with rough, uneducated accents. Below them, fainter is a female voice asking for mercy.
'Please...I don't know.." she says, weakly.
There is a heavy smacking sound and Sevak guesses she was hit.
'Tell us what the soldiers plan!"
The interrogation seems to have been going on for some time. Sevak can hear at least two male voices.
Sevak quickly looks over the wall, trying to judge how quickly he could break through.
Sevak analyses the rocky wall of debris and realizes he could probably push through it easily, but he would be slowed by such a move. His foes on the other side would not be surprised and may even have a chance to attack him as he waded through the rubble. Also, it may create a sizable amount of noise.
Sevak looks back at his companions. "Do either of you have a way to get through more quickly or quietly than simply pushing through the rubble?" he whispers urgently.
Paq looks bemused and says, 'I have to say, I've never tried to sneak through a stone wall before, no."
Hyo Soon searches her mind for a few moments, her wide blue eyes momentarily far away in thought. After this she whispers back, 'I have a spell that silence a person, but not a wall. I thought the plan was to grab someone silently." She sounds a bit irritated that her spell is useless.
On the other side of the wall the interrogation seems to degrade into a brutal beating.
"Then cover my advance."
Unwilling to wait longer for a better plan at the sounds of violence, Sevak does his best to shove through the wall.
Sevak shoulders through the crumbling rubble, kicking up a small cloud of dust. There is the scraping of falling stone and suddenly he is pushing through air. Stopping, the ex-druid tries to get his bearings.
He is in a small room, with cloth tent-like walls, obviously partitioned from a larger stone chamber. In the small room are two large men, both armed with clubs. At their feet is a woman, looking beaten and malnourished. Sevak can see at a glance she was once a fighter though, and the remnants of strong muscles are clear on her rag-covered body. Otherwise the room is empty.
One of the men strikes out instantly, as if on reflex.
Sevak grunts as the blow strikes him.
Sevak strikes back at the man who hit him. He dislikes bloodshed... but he hates torture, banditry, and all that these men seem to stand for more.
"Hyo Soon! Silence the other one! Paq! Do what you must to make sure they do not warn others!" He calls back to the others as he attacks.
Hyo Soon mutters some spell and the other guard falls dumb. He opens his fat, dirty mouth but no sound comes out. As he does so Paq slips in and stabs him in the leg, and Sevak sees a trickle of green fluid dribble out of the wound.
Meanwhile his own blow misses the bandit in front of him, who grins.
Shouting wordlessly, he drives his own club at Sevak's head.
The man hits him solidly, but Sevak shows little sign of being bothered by the blow. "You would live longer if you surrendered," Sevak suggests as he slashes again.
'Surrender?" The man says then shouts loudly, 'Intruder!" As his voice goes ringing out, Hyo Soon blasts him with a ray of freezing ice.
Sevak's blow misses and the bandit dodges past him and lashes out at the wizard.
Luckily his blow misses her face and hits Hyo Soon's shoulder.
Paq meanwhile is kneeling besides the girl, whispering. In a moment she starts screaming at the top of her lungs, drowning out the sounds of combat.
"You have a club. I have this blade," Sevak states, calmly, as he follows after and slashes at him again.
Zhèngyì thrills in Sevak's head as he swings toward the bandit. This time he is too slow and the blade strikes him. It hits him in the chest and sinks deep inside. Sevak feels the sword grate on ribs before the man falls limply to the ground.
The bandit struck by Paq is on the ground, rolling in silent agony. After a few moments he stops twitching and grows still, his chest not longer moving.
The woman on the floor keeps screaming, now seemingly unable to stop.
Sevak grabs his wand and comes over to the woman, looking over her quickly. He shoots Paq a questioning look, wondering if he did something more than speak with her.
"Look out and see if anyone is coming," he hisses urgently to the ratfolk, loud enough to be heard but, he hopes, not loud enough to be heard outside over the screaming.
Paq shrugs at Sevak's look, obviously confused as him. The ratfolk does go to the door (nothing more then a cloth flap) and peers out. He doesn't say anything so Sevak guesses the coast is clear, for now.
Hyo Soon whispers, 'She is in shock, obviously." She kneels down next to her, staff in hand, and places a hand on her shoulder. It doesn't seem to help and the woman keeps screaming, eyes rolling in fear.
In spite of having healing magic, Sevak has no training in medicine, and so simply has to take Hyo Soon's word for what is happening. At the least her screaming might have covered their fighting...
"Perhaps some healing will help?" he suggests, pulling out his wand and waving it over the worst of her bruises.
Sevak waves the wand at the fallen woman, and some of her wounds heal over instantly. While her physical pain must be lessened her emotional distress doesn't seem to diminish. She is still shaking, cowering on the floor.
Hyo Soon mutters, "She probably isn't a fan of the nagaji. Gods know what that foul bandit did to her." The usual cold academic seems quite incensed at this and Sevak notes, with some worry, her grip on the relic staff is tight, knuckles white.
From the door Paq whispers harshly, "Come on, what's the plan? People will be coming along shortly."
Sevak hesitates a moment. "An ambush," he states. "Fall back into the passageway behind, and when they follow, ambush them. We will try to capture one this time, if possible."
"But we will not want to leave her here to suffer further abuse," Sevak says, bending down to pick up the woman before carrying her back into the hallway.
Sevak picks up the still stricken woman, who doesn't say anything. She feels quite light on his back, probably from weeks (months?) of malnourishement.
Paq leaves the door and double back, and they crawl through the fallen rocks. behind them, they can hear men shouting and running.
"Right on time." Paq mutters, the ratfolk looking for a likely ambush spot.
They find a dark alcove where they can all hide, at least temporarily (it is a tight squeeze). Hyo Soon is pressed right against Sevak and she doesn't seem excited by all the cold, sharp scales. Paq is leaning low to the floor, listening.
The woman sobs quietly.
'Shut her up!" Paq hisses, impatiently.
"If you hide elsewhere, they will focus on me and you can strike them from behind," Sevak whispers back to Paq.
He does his best to set her down gently. "Quiet, now. We're trying to get you out of here. I am Sevak, and these are Hyo Soon and Paq. We are fighting against these bandits."
The woman quiets slightly, and silence returns to the corridor.
Paq says, "You know, these people aren't going to go unnoticed. Doubly so if we start captured squads of them. We might set off the alarm."
As he says this Sevak hear voices enter the corridor.
"She escaped" A voice says, sounding puzzled.
'I doubt it." Another says, rougher, sharper. "She was not match for both Pailkun and Kaun. Girl was half dead. She must have had help..but who?"
The voice slowly stalk closer, obviously taking their time, looking for traps or hidden attackers.
Sevak is about to reply to Paq, to say something about how he didn't exactly plan for this and is making the best of the situation he knows how, about how what they need is to find a way to the Red Mouth as quickly as possible before an alarm *is* raised, but he is cut off before he can speak by the arrival of more bandits.
At least they are not immediately running off to call for reinforcements... he thinks to himself. If they can capture one and get directions from him, they might yet pull this off... if he doesn't just direct them to the barracks.
Had he again trapped himself into a bad course of action by trying to help someone without thinking? He thought this over as he quietly waited for the men to draw closer. No... the point of no return had been earlier. The deal with the Weird had given them little option but to go forward--unless he wished to turn around and kill the Weird. Given how tenuous their alliance was, he doubted they could have simply turned around and asked it for directions to another way in. Likely it would have attacked them, and they would have had to waste strength upon it they would need for the Red Mouth.
Even if he had not been so eager to save this woman, it would have been the sensible choice in the circumstances. Now the trick was to stay focused and figure out a way to make this work... which meant paying attention now.
Some of the dust in the air ctches in Sevak's throat and he coughs, quietly but distinctly. Paq gives him a depairing look and even Hyo Soon looks a bit disappointed.
The two figures int he corridor stop and one says, 'What was that?'Do you think it could be them?"
The other laughs darkly and says, 'I doubt we'd hear them. It is probably that giant fungus snake people keep going on about."
He says this obviously to scare the other and it works. The other bandit lets out a squeak of fright before the prankster says, 'Calmd own. I'm sure that snake is a myth. But keep your light up."
The two advance, ready for trouble now, lamp held high.
Knowing he has only a moment with the element of surprise, Sevak suddenly surges forwards and swings Zhèngyì. He does not target either of the bandits, however... but rather their lantern.
Sevak lunges out of his hiding hole. In the instant his sword heads for the lantern, he sees they are too, not overly clean male bandits. Both are thin and ragged from little food and hard work, but their weapons are clean and faces set.
Both react in shock as Sevak smashes the light, and all are instantly plunged into darkness. One bandit screams outright, while the other mutters a curse.
Sevak also hears Hyo Soon stifle a scream, being thrown abruptly back into darkness.
Sevak keeps moving, using the memory of where the bandits had been and the skills developed in his time of blindness to try to sieze the nearer of the two bandits.
He manages to grab the man with one hand while he is shocked by the sudden darkness. Zhèngyì is awkward in his other hand, but he keeps his grip as he pulls the bandit close, trying to pin his weapon against his body.
"Paq, the other one!" he hisses, then says more loudly, "If you wish to see the light again, I suggest you surrender. Darkness is much more hindrance to you than us. Cry out, and your corpses shall discover what truly lives here in the dark."
Sevak hears a gurgling sound off to his left as Paq finds his mark. The darkness is no hindrance to the ratfolk and his blade finds its mark.
In his mind he hears Zhengyi says I care not for this poisonous friend of yours. Attacking in the dark is bad enough.
Meanwhile the bandit he has tackled to the wall goes limp, obviously surrendering.
From the breathing, Sevak judges he captured the older, tougher one of the two. Shame, but he doubts the one Paq found will ever answer questions again.
Off tot he side Hyo Soon Says, in a high pitched voice, 'Can...can I turn on the lights again?"
I should have been more clear--I had only meant for him to keep him from escaping, but there was not time... Sevak thinks back, remorsefully.
But he had to keep moving forward. Everything was in motion, there was no time to stop and reconsider.
"Yes, Hyo Soon," he says aloud. He shifts his grip, bringing Zhèngyì up to the man's throat, touching just enough for him to know there is a blade there.
"Now, there are two ways we can do this," Sevak states coldly. He hates the killing, hates the threats, but after seeing what these bandits do to others, it seems the only way to protect the lives of other innocents. "You can tell me how to find the Red Mouth. Then I will tie you up and leave you here, either to be found by others who come looking to find you, or by me when I return. Or you can refuse, and join in your companion's fate."
The blue arcane light re-emerges, throwing the bandits face into harsh relief. He looks uncowed by Sevak's harsh words.
"You talk tough but you need me. Promise to let me go and I'll tell you everything you need." he nods at the dark expanse, 'Tying me up is as good as killing me. There is weird stuff living in the deep corridors, you know that."
"I don't want to get killed for some old nagaji grudge. Just let me go and I'll help you."
Sevak narrows his eyes. "And how do I know you will not simply run off and bring friends as soon as you are free?" he asks, not letting up on his grip.
The bandit shrugs, 'You don't but what other choice do you have? Torture me? i think they might hear you pulling my toenails out..."
Paq pads over, silent as a shadow. He holds a shining knife in one hand, edged with some red poison, looking at Sevak questioningly.
"We can make him...unable to scream."
The bandit stares hard at the ratfolk but says, "You'll get more, faster by letting me go. They will notice we are missing shortly."
"And send more men in to die?" Sevak asks, but his heart is not in it. He releases his grip and stands back, though his blade remains at the ready.
"Speak quickly, and we will leave you here unbound when we move forward. If your friends start coming down the corridor before you finish, we will make certain you are not alive at our backs."