Private Tales Through the Mists

[Keyleth]

Keyleth paused at the edge of the water, looking down at the waves as they lapped against her boots. Somewhere on the other side of that sea, there were waves crashing against the rocky coastline if her home. She closed her eyes, picturing the view of the harbor and then she exhaled a soft breath. If she wanted to see Minaris again, she was going to need more than just the Barbarian's help. She was not so vain as to ignore that simple fact. Keyleth was a pragmatic woman, after all.

Her pale eyes opened and she raised her chin, looking over her shoulder to meet Thren's gaze.

The two of them had a peculiar bond to one another; one that she could not quite explain or define. She enjoyed the mystique of it all. And she found herself wanting to explore their budding relationship further.

Dying now simply wasn't an option, as far as she was concerned.

"Yes, I do." She answered him calmly, an exhausted smile on her lips.

Honesty was her best course of action. Trying to hide the facts wasn't going to help anyone.

She turned her back on the water to face Thren, loosely gripping the spear in her hand for support. "This poison is killing me, Mainlander. I can barely walk. So... Yes. I need your help."

 

[Thren]

He considered for a moment. Perhaps naively he had thought the poison was through with her, worked through her system or run its course enough that it would no longer be an issue. Briefly he wondered why he'd assumed such things.

It seemed foolish now. "I see."

Thren spoke calmly, glancing at her for a moment and letting his eyes roam her body. The gaze was not lecherous, not at all in fact. It was measuring more than anything else. He was trying to assess how much longer she would live, how much longer she could push herself beyond all of this.

Not far if she was to be believed.

Would he be on his own in the wilds? Just he and Larik. It would not be the first time, though the prospect was not one that pleased him in the slightest. Surviving was always easier with others.

"I know little of medicine." He told her, stepping slowly to move directly in front of her. "Less of consoling the dying."

Perhaps it sounded harsh, but as always Thren simply spoke the truth.

 

[Keyleth]

Keyleth held his gaze intently, her expression unreadable. The sea breeze picked up lightly playing with the ends of her hair, causing them to dance around her face. Behind her, the waves quietly crashed upon the white sand -- which was a vivid contrast to the dark sands of Minaris. She should have been terrified, standing here on death's door so far away from home, but instead she was filled with an profound calm and gritty determination.

"Good thing I am not asking for a beside nanny then." She replied to him in an almost serene voice. Perhaps the toxins were going to her head, but she felt incredibly composed.

She took a single step towards him, raising her chin a hair's breadth to meet his stark gaze.

"I gathered the regents that I'll need to concoct a remedy. Or at the very least, something that will stave off the worst of the poison. That said, I'm going to be in a compromised physical state while I recover." She told him matter-of-factly.

 

[Thren]

He nodded. "We will have to stay on the ship then."

It would be for the best.

Thren could likely carry Keyleth for miles on end, hell he could even make her lighter and do so more easily, but if she was going to be useless...it was best not to move. These jungles were dangerous, not just because of the lack of civilizations.

Monsters roamed these woods, and although he hated to use the term, it was the most accurate. Harpies, Hydra's, dozens of others that would happily cut them down and gobble them up in half a second.

"How long?" He asked. "Days?"

The longer they stayed, the more likely it was something would come for them.

 

[Keyleth]

"Tonight and tomorrow. After that... I should be fit to move." She said with a single nod.

Staying put for any length of time was dangerous and she knew that they needed to start their journey as quickly as they could. Not to mention the fact that she wanted to put as much distance between them and the cursed ship as soon as possible.

 

[Thren]

Two days.

Not too bad really, all things considered. It was better than a week, certainly better than a month. Still, dangerous.

They had to do this carefully.

The creatures of the Wilds were not like other animals. Whereas a pack of wolves would shy away from a pack of men, the monsters who lived within the wilds would not avoid something as paltry as a ship. They would investigate.

Then they would hunt. "Alright."

Thren agreed quietly.

 

[Keyleth]

With a single nod, Keyleth turned away from Thren and started to wade her way through the gently crashing waves of the tide. The current was not particularly strong here on the rather peaceful beach where they'd washed ashore, which meant that she could make her way forward with relative ease. By the time the water reached her waist, however, it was far easier for her to swim than to walk.

Climbing up the rope ladder to the ship's deck was another matter altogether. Trying to haul herself up while wearing soaked clothes would have been impossible. Unfortunately for Thren, that meant she needed his help to reach the relative safety of the deck.

"Could I bother you for a lift?" She asked him with a slight smile.

 

[Thren]

Thren pursed his lips, then nodded.

He supposed whatever made all of this easier for her would be better. The less she was strained now the faster they would be able to actually get her healed and get out of here. Of course, that was only if nothing came along and decided to ruin those plans entirely. A distinct possibility.

Monsters didn't particularly care about what you wanted. "Getting on the boat will be hard."

The Barbarian joked with a smirk.

In truth be could likely throw Keyleth over his shoulder and climb the rope, but a little levity was required in a situation like this. Keyleth was on deaths door, they had limited supplies, and all they had going for them was a single ship likely filled with ghosts.

A joke went a far way.

Slowly Thren leaned down and scooped her up, hefting her weight and carrying her towards the ship.

 

[Keyleth]

Keyleth took a sharp breath as the barbarian lifted her up. He was rather gentle with her, but that could only do so much to stave off the discomfort of her injuries. Her head came to rest against his shoulder as he carried her through the water, focusing on keeping her breathing steady.

For their short journey back onto the deck of the ship, the duchess didn't utter a word -- allowing herself a short break to gather the tattered remnants of her strength.

Once they were safely on the deck, she asked Thren to take her to the captain's cabin at the back of the ship. It was one of the only rooms on the ship that she knew wouldn't be filled with blood or the dead. Staying on the vessel for long was just asking for infection or disease to set in. The stench of death would likely attract beasts from the jungles seeking an easy meal.

It was dangerous to linger there.

After Thren deposited her onto the bed, she pulled the small satchel free and dumped the contents onto the blanket in front of her. She neatly arranged each specimen and offered Thren a brown mushroom cap that was as large as the barbarian's palm with a subtle smile.

"Here... you should eat something. I found some of these while I was foraging." She said, her voice warm.

Standing up from the bed, she started to rummage through the cabinets and drawers that were scattered throughout the cabin. It took her a few minutes, but she eventually found a wooden bowl that she could use to crush up the ingredients.

 

[Thren]

"Ah. Mushrooms." Thren said as he made a face.

The Barbarian had never particularly enjoyed eating fungus. His people were of the nomadic sort, and thus they were introduced to a variety of different foods. Mushrooms had always been among the food groups he'd particularly disdained.

Mostly it was because of a pass through Belgrath, the great dwarven city. Most people assumed the Dwarves just ate meat and ale, but what they missed were the great mushroom farms that the bastards practically boasted of.

It was an...unpleasant week.

The siege hadn't helped of course, but hey.

"We'll need to find some meat." He grumbled. "Even if it's hard tack."

 

[Keyleth]

She managed a small smirk at the barbarian's clear disdain for the mushroom. It made her think of her daughter, Aviana. The girl hated mushrooms as well. When Avi was little, she used to sneak the despised bits of fungus under the table to the waiting jowls of one of her father's hunting dogs. Keyleth had never been able to properly scold her daughter when she caught her in the act, it had always made her laugh instead.

Shaking her head, Keyleth returned her attention to the present, watching the regents she'd spent hours collecting slow grind away into a rather unappealing green paste.

"There's likely something down in the galley that's been salted for preservation. If you wanted to go check and see if you can find any?" She offered, glancing up from her work.

 

[Thren]

"Perhaps later." When there was less death in the air.

The Siruk were never a particularly superstitious people, but food next to the dead? That invited more than just bad luck. Maggots, flies, and every other insect that could be imagined would already have taken root within the holds.

He was not eager for the smell either.

"When we set out I'll hunt." He told Keyleth. "Fishing is a tad more...dangerous."

On this coast anyway. "Could be worse though."

Thren commented, more to himself than Keyleth.

 

[Keyleth]

She took a breath and then gathered some of the salve on her fingers, smearing it over the infected wounds on her side and shoulder. After that, she wrapped the remaining medicine in folded leaves. It would last her a few more days once they started to travel.

With a quiet moan, she leaned into cushion behind her, letting the medicine slowly run its course.

"We'll leave in the morning... I'll be able to walk by then if this works. If it doesn't... I'll probably be dead when the sun rises." She growled through grit teeth.

The woman closed her eyes and she slowly drifted to sleep.

 

[Thren]

His lips thinned. "An unfortunate thought."

The Barbarian said quietly in consideration. If Keyleth died he likely wouldn't make it out himself. Larik wouldn't do much out in the wilds. The Hound was a good hunting companion, protected him during his sleep, but out here?

Out here he was outmatched.

The Hound couldn't stand against Hydra's, sea-giants, or half a dozen other creatures that lived out here in the wilds. It simply was not worth it.

"We'll hope it doesn't come to that." Thren said as he sat himself on the bed. "Rest now."

He told her. "I'll keep watch."

 

[Keyleth]

Keyleth slept well with the barbarian watching over her. She didn't thrash about or cry out in her sleep, her body far too fatigued to conjure up any dreams.

When the sun did rise, the woman's eyes slowly creaked open as a beam of light drifted over her face.

She wasn't dead then. Death would have meant less pain.

It brought a smile to her lips, knowing that she'd defied the call of the abyss once more. Someday she would have to go, but not today. And hopefully, not any time soon. There was still so much to be done.

Licking her dry lips, Keyleth turned her head to look around the room. Sitting up was difficult, but not as strenuous as it'd been the day before. She exhaled a soft breath of relief: the remedy had taken, and her recovery was underway.

Her wounds still ached, but she didn't feel the poison sapping her strength. She felt as if she could breathe a little easier.

"You awake?" She whispered quietly, glancing to Thren's back which was still turned to her.

 

[Thren]

"Not dead then?" Thren asked, the hint of a smile in his tone.

There was a loud thunk, the sound of a knife sinking into a table.

He turned to face her, his bulk shifting enough to reveal to her what was laid out on the table in front of him. A map sat there, two knives sunk into the heavy parchment. Several pencils also lay strewn about, as well as an inkwell on the far corner.

Thren couldn't write of course, nor read, something that had come up earlier in their short...acquaintanceship.

Yet his illiteracy did not make him stupid. He had taken the last few hours to search the Captains quarters, and there he'd found a wealth of information even he could decipher.

Thus he'd found a map, and from that map and several others he'd managed to track down approximately where their ship had run aground.

Smirking at her, Thren continued. "Just in time for the long hike."

 

[Keyleth]

The woman swung her legs down off the bed, testing her strength as she stood up. Since she didn't immediately collapse back down onto the mattress, she considered it a small victory. Tentatively, she took a few steps forward and came to stand beside the barbarian, looking over his shoulder to see what he'd been working on.

Her keen eyes swept over the map that had been knifed down to the table. She leaned over him, her shoulder lightly brushing against his as she traced a finger along the coast line with a thoughtful hum in her throat.

"We should take this with us, Mainlander." She said in a quiet voice, idly resting her hand between his shoulder blades. It was a touch one did when familiar with someone, comfortable with them. Keyleth had touched him without giving the gesture second though, it had come naturally.

Internally, she smiled at the realization. It was nice to have a companion who saw her as an equal again.

"I trust you found us a way out of here?" She asked, turning her bright blue gaze to the barbarian's.

 

[Thren]

He nodded. "It won't be easy, but if I'm right there will be a village just down here."

Thren pointed to the first knife.

When he said the journey would not be easy, he really wasn't kidding. Along the map there were mountains, rivers, and large swaths of Jungle that they would have to cross. If Keyleth knew anything about the Wilds, she would be easily able to tell the danger ahead.

"It's our quickest way to civilization." He told her. "Otherwise we'd have to head North and that..."

The Barbarian frowned. "Would not be wise."

Though the wilds were bad in the South, the North was less...civilized. Men did not dwell there, but instead creatures that would eat a horse raw and spit it back out without even chewing. Thren did not want to see them.

 

[Keyleth]

"Considering where we are, I never thought the journey to civilization would be an easy one." She murmured quietly, sweeping her eyes along the path that he pointed out to her on the map.

The warrior queen shifted her weight, feeling more and more of her strength return to her the longer she was on her feet. It was invigorating. She wondered how long that euphoria would last. Likely not much longer than a day, her muscles and flesh were still torn. No amount of antidote would be able to seal those lacerations. That would take time.

"We'll be able to move more quickly with just the three of us." She observed, glancing down fondly to the hound before she turned her eyes back to Thren.

"But passing through that much jungle... would normally require nearly a proper regiment of men. If we run into danger, or any of the beasts that prowl those territories... " She let her words trail off. The barabarian would know just how lethal this jungle could be. In fact, he likely had a far greater understanding of the threats than Keyleth did.

She'd only spoken on the matter to show that she understood the risk.

"Fortunately, the two of us should be more than enough to manage." She said with a wry smile.

 

[Thren]

He shook his head, running a hand through his hair. "I'm not entirely certain of that."

Thren liked to think of himself as a capable warrior and fighter, but the Wilds weren't necessarily about fighting your way out of anything. It wasn't like they had to worry about fighting off any bandits, no, the Wilds were more about the jungle itself.

"It's said among our people that here even the trees are out to kill you." A shiver ran down his spine.

By nature the Siruk were a nomadic people, they traveled from place to place and made their way all over the world. Generally though, even his people tended to avoid the farther reaches of the Wilds. Too dangerous, not enough work.

Best to stay away.

"We see anything." He told her as he stood. "We run."

Coming from him, that was a statement and a half.

 

[Keyleth]

Keyleth turned her gaze from the map to meet Thren's stoic scrutiny. There was actually the faintest hint of a smile on her lips, pushing the locks of pale blonde hair out of her face. She took a soft breath and then exhaled sharply through her nose.

"I was joking, you know. I'd rather not try to take down the towering beasts that roam these forests." Her tone was amused when she spoke in a low voice.

After yanking the small blades Thren had used to hold the parchment in place and handing them back to him, she rolled the map up into a nice scroll and tucked it away inside her vest.

"We'd best be off, Mainlander. We're burning daylight." She said giving his shoulder a single pat.

 

[Thren]

He nodded. "Just making sure."

Thren was not the sort to run from a fight, but when that fight was one he couldn't win?

Why risk his life.

It was what had kept him going this long. Mercenaries did not often reach his age, and Siruk even less. It was a fact he was quietly proud of, though admitting it was rather unlikely. Before Keyleth could say anything else Thren gathered up a few things from the cabin.

Flint, a few candles, some rations, and the odd golden trinket or two that the Captain had obviously collected over the years.

"Trade." Thren said with a shrug of his shoulders as Keyleth glanced at him.

If they made it to the village they would have to pay for things somehow, and he doubted any of the coin he had on him would be accepted at face value.

Eventually he had everything gathered up, and with a sharp whistle the three of them headed back off the ship and onto the beach below.

A long walk ahead of them.

 

[Keyleth]

Walking on her own two feet again was revitalizing. She felt more like herself and less like the frail damsel she'd been over the past few days.

For the first few hours, the pair traveled in relative silence. Neither of them was a particularly talkative individual, to begin with. Instead, they walked alongside one another in companionable quiet.

Keyleth kept her spear in a loose grip as she walked, ready to use the weapon should the need suddenly arise.

The silence and lack of immediate danger, however, gave Keyleth's mind plenty of time to wander. Her home was likely lost. She needed to come to terms with that fact. There was nothing she could do from this side of the channel. How many people would die while she was away? Would any of her men survive?

Her expression turned dour and a soft sigh slipped from her lips.

"What do you plan to do once we reach the village?" She asked in a soft voice, not wanting the sound to carry through the forest.

 

[Thren]

Thren glanced back at her as they walked, frowning a moment before he answered. "I plan to tell the villagers a story."

He had been a mercenary for most of his life. That meant he fought for money. He was a professional soldier, the core of every army, but he knew that the substance of most militaries was not like him. No, most armies were made of peasants, militias and the like who simply rallied to a cause because they had to, or had the opportunity to.

Keyleth needed an army, and he would get her one.

"One about an exiled Queen." Not strictly the truth but close enough. "Demons deposing her, and the quest she has set herself upon to regain her City."

It was a nice enough story, and one that would spread like wildfire.

That was what they needed.

Every time they entered a port Keyleth’s story already needed to be there. Every time they talked to a noble or a sailor some echo of the tale already needed to have reached. That would be their lynch pin. It would frighten, inspire, and create a cause.

It would be how they gathered an army.

The task why by no means easy, but given a few months…entirely possible.

 

[Keyleth]

She met his gaze and the faintest of smiles touched her lips. It was somewhat reassuring to know that they wouldn't be immediately parting ways once they arrived back at civilization. His drive to help her was endearing, surprising even.

Still, she knew she would need to find a means of income. The Mainlander was a mercenary and if they sought to build an army, she was going to need backers.

Her free hand reached out to the barbarian, lightly touching his forearm.

"I do hope you're a good storyteller." She murmured with a quiet chuckle.