Private Tales Through the Mists

[Keyleth]

She glanced to the door, frowning slightly.

"Why would someone create something like this... like those demons." Her voice was low, talking more to herself than to Thren himself. When it came to someone like Cossick, there wasn't much question into the matter. He craved power. His avarice knew no bounds, and he would do what ever it took to achieve his goals. Even then... he likely believed that he was doing what was necessary to save Minaris, in his own twisted mind. He'd always been against the city reaching out to the mainland.

Now she understood why the Naga had fled the city so quickly after the mists swept through the city; and why they had not yet returned.

"The Weavers have done something like this before." She said after a long pause, shaking her head.

 

[Thren]

"Well, it's better than a wall." Thren pointed out, glancing at the thumping door once more before finally he walked to the other end of the cabin and grabbed a chair.

There was a slight scraping noise as he placed it in front of the bed.

A few moments passed as Thren began to strip off his armor, apparently no longer comfortable wearing the heavy black plate mail and spikes that had been adorning him since they had met. He pulled it off piece by piece and stacked it neatly on the floor, eventually stripped down to just an undershirt.

"It's good protection." He said with a shrug. "Though isolation isn't always a good thing."

He frowned. It was a fact the Siruk had learned centuries ago.

 

[Keyleth]

"Isolationism is what's gotten us into this mess in the first place." She remarked dryly, shaking her head again. "Leonell was right to open the ports and invite trade into the city. Of course... not everyone agreed, and now Minaris is lost."

She fell into silence for some time, watching Thren as he pulled the heavy armor off and set it aside.

There was always a price to pay. Was this hers?

If this is what Leonell's ambition had led to... was it really worth it? Perhaps. It did not serve your people to lead with fear, and he had taken the course that he deemed was best for Minaris. Not that it mattered now. He died with the others during the summoning of the mist wall. Trapped here now, and slowly dying from the wendigo's poison, Keyleth thought that Leonell got off easy. His price was paid and he was resting now.

Where as she would be the one to face the consequences of his actions.

And what about Aviana?

Keyleth turned her eyes back towards the window, frowning. "And Minaris was not the only thing lost."

 

[Thren]

Thren stretched fora moment, moving his arms behind his back and letting a loud crack echo as he did so. "So go back."

The Barbarian said it as though it were the simplest thing in the world.

For him this sort of thing wasn't really an issue. The Siruk were not tied to a single place and their culture held little sentiment for...well pretty much anything. He supposed it was part of the reason why their numbers had dwindled so low, but it had served them well as soldiers.

"Not now obviously." Thren said as he sat down in the chair. "But with an army, a fleet, and probably some mages."

Something enough to tear down that fog anyway. "Plenty of all that on the Mainland, if you know who to ask."

 

[Keyleth]

"I plan to." She said lowly. "Beslin will do what he can, if he survives in the meantime."

The man at the door continued to paw at the handle for a few more minutes, before some other sound further in the ship drew his attention. His footsteps shuffled off and the quiet giggling faded.

Part of her was curious as to why the Siruk barbarian was impervious to the mist, just as she seemed to be. What about her men? Were they fairing better than the foreign crew as well? Were they even alive? She couldn't go look for them herself, and it was best if Thren stayed put where he was too.

"But first... we need to survive tonight."

 

[Thren]

"We'll be fine." He waved off her concerns. In his mind Thren had long decided that the mist did not effect him. Why? He had absolutely no idea, but he had made it through once and that was enough for him. This time around he seemed to have none of the symptoms either.

As far as the Barbarian reckoned, they would survive.

Whether or not they survived without a crew? That was something he couldn't predict. Thren was no sailors, and if he had to guess neither was Keyleth. Operating this ship without at least a few deckhands would be basically impossible.

"The door will hold back anything short of a mountain." He leaned back in his chair. "And Larik will bark if a mountain happens to come by."

The hound wagged his tail, happy to be mentioned.

 

[Keyleth]

Her attention shifted over to the hound that sat diligently by the door. The dog had proven to be quite loyal to its master so far, and she doubted that it would let anything slip by unnoticed. Still, it was too unsettling to try to sleep while listening to the sounds of the crew slaughter one another.

She just hoped that they did not lose their course in the midst of the madness.

"I... appreciate what you did for me today." She murmured a moment later, turning her gaze back to Thren. "You put yourself at great risk for a stranger."

 

[Thren]

"I needed a way off the island." Thren said in simple explanation of why he had done what he had.

Through and through the Barbarian was a mercenary. He did not fight for free and he did not take up any cause that did not benefit him in some way. That was a core principal of the Siruk.

None of them fought for free.

Here the reward had not been tangible, not in any real way. There was no bag of gold or chest of silver, but he'd known from the minute he'd stepped foot on it that he would need a way out of Minaris. He now had that, even if it came with troubles in it's own way.

 

[Keyleth]

"So you did."

And there it was. Why she knew better than to put her trust in the man; at a moment's notice someone could offer him payment to put an end to her, and he would do it. She found it unlikely that he would even have the decency to hesitate.

What would happen once they reached the mainland? She had nothing else to offer the barbarian in terms of payment. Would he turn on her? Abandon her was more likely. Of course, she had to survive the initial trip to the mainland for that to even matter in the first place.

She wasn't offended by the truth. It was simply the way of things. Once, when she was younger and more foolish, she might have taken the statement personally. But it never was personal. It was just business.

 

[Thren]

The Siruk weren't mercenaries in the same sense that many other men were.

Though they took payment for their work, they held a certain sense of honor. That honor was a broken thing, deeply personal and dependent on who the Siruk was, but it was always there.

For Thren it mattered who he worked for and what their cause was. A bag of gold wouldn't always be enough, and betrayal was something he simply would not do. Keyleth would have no idea of that of course, and in truth Thren was unlikely to share it unless directly asked.

They were two strangers in a cabin.

"You have a ship." He offered. "The Captain is likely dead and the crew will be sparse."

The Barbarian mused. "In the west you might be able to parlay it into something, then if you reach the right Lord or crusading army..."

It was funny how that worked. Nobles were always willing to commit to a 'righteous' cause.

 

[Keyleth]

"I'd need to find a way to dismantle this miasma first. Trying to sail through it with an army sounds like an excellent way to lead hundreds of men to their death." Keyleth shifted a little in place on the bed. She desperately wanted to regain control of the city, to set things right; but she wasn't willing to rush headlong into it without the proper resources or plan laid out.

"There's also the risk of said crusading army turning around and seizing control of the port for their own gain. But you're right. I do have the ship, for now. Though I won't be able to hold it for long in my condition... I need to find a healer if I've any hope of taking a stand against Cossick."

She was not the diplomat of Minaris. She shouldn't be the one sailing out into the unknown in search of allies to bring back. That should have been Leonell. What was she going to do? Shake a spear at a duke and hope that he decided to join up? She had nothing to offer, no means of bartering; unless she promised them something from Minaris itself if she succeeded in taking it back.

Talking through the problems helped so what.

She didn't expect Thren to aid her in future endeavors, but he was not a terrible listener.

 

[Thren]

He considered for a moment.

There were no 'great' ports on the east edge of the continent, not that he knew of anyway. A few small trading villages, fishing towns and the like, but nothing on the scale of Vel Anir or Alliria. He leaned back in his chair and considered for a moment, glancing Keyleth up and down. "There is a college at Elbion, mages and the like."

Thren had only visited Elbion once in his lifetime. He'd been a teenager then, and he'd spent most of his time in the city chasing a redheaded woman with passion enough for the Blight Orcs. She'd been a fiery one.

Fun.

"They might have a solution for you." If they didn't, likely nobody would. He frowned for a moment though, pausing. "There's one in Alliria too...less prestigious but you'd also be likely to find someone to take up your cause there."

He scratched his beard. "As for a Healer, they're a dime a dozen in the East."

 

[Keyleth]

"Good to know that they're so common then." She smirked a little, closing her eyes.

"I can only hope that they're willing to work for as little as you were." Her tone was teasing, though strained through the fever and pain.

In her head, she was prioritizing which actions would need to be carried out and in what order. First, she needed to find herself a healer and one that could mend a wound inflicted by a wendigo... if they even knew what those demons were on the mainland. She'd already considered that it was entirely possible no one would know how to treat the injury off of the island. By sailing out of MInaris, she may have already signed her own death warrant without even realizing it yet.

Still, if she managed to find a healer. She would need to figure out a way to circumvent the mist before she did any sort of recruiting.

She also wanted to find the truth about her daughter.

Cossick claimed that she'd been killed, but that was probably just a convenient lie.

If she was alive, she needed to get word to her somehow. They could find one another and formulate a plan together. The dragon egg that Aviana had been given would be useful as well.

 

[Thren]

"Depends on who you are and how you ask." Thren said it as though he didn't even notice the joke, though he smiled slightly.

He had been taken in by a village healer more than once during his time with various armies. They had all asked a price of some sort, and he'd been glad to pay it. Whether it had been gathering herbs for a week or working on a farm. The price had never been one he hadn't been willing to pay.

Not that all healers were as benevolent, there was always a chance Thren was just lucky.

"Besides." He commented dryly. "Depending on how many of the crew survive you may not even have to worry about it."

A shrug rolled over his shoulders. "We could end up on Nagai."

At which point they would quickly be executed.

 

[Keyleth]

She peeked an eye open to peer back at Thren, trying to determine whether or not he was joking. Needless to say, it was impossible to tell. She simply didn't know the barbarian well enough to judge his personality.

"That's also a possibility." She remarked wryly.

There was a soft lull in the conversation, Keyleth wasn't sure what else to say at that pointed. They had effectively covered all their bases. Either they made it safe harbor, or they didn't. From there, Keyleth would have to figure out how to find a healer on her own, though she might be able to keep herself going for a few weeks with enough Elderoot.

If that even grew on the mainland.

Her gaze drifted back to the window, staring past the glass and into the mists beyond.

She could have sworn she heard a woman's voice, hidden away by the chaos raging outside the safety of the cabin's quarters. It was soft and almost soothing, like a mother humming to a newborn child. Her brow furrowed slightly and she leaned closer to the window, pressing a hand against the glass.

"Do you hear that?"

 

[Thren]

Lips thinned. "Don't listen."

Thren was no sailor, but he'd heard the stories.

The Barbarian was no scholar, hell, he was barely educated, but he'd made it around the world twice over. Most of that had been by land, but some by sea. The Sailors had told him many tales, some true, some false. He knew enough to recognize this though, and his entire body tensed.

As if insanity was enough. "Kivren."

It was a guess at best, but when it came to this sort of thing it was better to air on the side of caution. His fingers twitched towards the daggers, though he knew they wouldn't do much good here.

"Sirens." He clarified quietly, thinking the name might be more familiar. "They lull with their song...then kill."

 

[Keyleth]

"I'm familiar with sirens, Mainlander." She answered with a small frown, pulling her attention away from the window.

How far had they drifted off course if the sirens were nearby? And from the sound of it, they were hunting.

"If we're lucky, the sailors are too busy killing each other to even notice." She pulled her hand back from the glass and looked back to Thren. "But our luck hasn't exactly been on our side today."

 

[Thren]

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He let his hand drift away from the dagger. "I've been exceedingly lucky lately."

Briefly he glanced towards the window.

Beneath his cool facade he was genuinely worried about the Kivren. Crazy sailors was one thing, but those monsters? They were something entirely different. Kivren could tear men apart, rip the sails from a ship and break the hull. He'd seen it once, what they could do.

Lips thinned for a moment, though his head shook. "We should occupy ourselves with something else."

Death was too depressing, and right now they were surrounded by it.

 

[Keyleth]

"I'm open to suggestions," Keyleth answered, not wanting to think about the kivren or insane crew either.

Truth be told, she was frightened.

It had already been proven to her that if it came down to a fight, she was in no shape to put up much of one. A single drunken sailor had been too much for her... there wasn't much hope against a pod of Kivren. The barbarian might survive if the sirens attacked, him and his war hound.

 

[Thren]

He smirked for a brief moment, glancing around the Captain's quarters for a few seconds. He was trying to find something to do, something that he wouldn't be completely terrible at.

After a few moments he half turned back to Keyleth. "Well, I have two suggestions."

The Barbarian seemed more amused.

"The first one will get your heart rate up a little." His hand slowly rubbed his beard as he looked around again, then slowly he regarded her fully. "The other we'll get to see how long I can fuck you up against that wall."

 

[Keyleth]

In all the chaos of the fighting, she'd forgotten how crass the man had been when she first found him. It seemed that he thought now was a good time to bring that particular character trait back into the limelight.

She'd have been lying if she said that she didn't briefly consider the notion, but it was quickly dismissed. She could barely stand, having a strange mercenary pin her against the wall was liable to kill her. Fun to think about, perhaps, but it certainly wasn't feasible.

"Are you trying to make me blush, Mainlander?" She asked him with a raised brow.

Much of her life, before being dragged into the realm of nobility, had been spent amongst soldiers. Most of whom were men. Suggestions like Thren's had once been somewhat common when she was younger, but they had stopped as she started to rise through the ranks. After Leonell declared she was to be his wife, it was rare for someone to so much as look at her.

"What exactly was the first option?"

 

[Thren]

Thren only smiled. "I let you be on top."

 

[Keyleth]

Keyleth stared at Thren for several seconds after his last quip.

She honestly couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

"Let me. Be on top." She repeated the sentence as if trying to force it to make some sort of sense that didn't involve sex. When she said it out loud, it only sounded worse.

"Are you sure that the mist isn't affecting you?" She countered.

 

[Thren]

"Positive." He said leaning back in the chair. "Can you think of a better way to pass several hours in a small room?"

Thren shrugged. "I certainly can't and..."

The Barbarian trailed off for a moment, smiling as he looked her up and down then slowly leaned forward.

'You can't tell me you haven't been curious." He gave her a rather cocky, self confident smile.

 

[Keyleth]

Either he was trying to get her to make a fool of herself in a horrible attempt at a joke, or he was being entirely serious. Judging from what she'd seen so far from the man, she was leaning towards the latter, though it was impossible to know for sure.

Instead of trying to reason out whether or not he was kidding, she opted for another angle.

"Even if that were the case, I'm hardly in any condition to be of much fun in that regard."