The approaching figure smiled. His short gray hair reflecting the torch light slightly as if it were made of steel. "There is no need to be concerned, I have come to talk...and you, first born, are not giving the orders here. I am.'
Aliandith did anything but ease her stance. She bared her teeth for a moment. "Do not presume to threaten me. I've dealt with your ilk since before your great forebears were but a thought... Speak your peace and begone"
Finchley shuddered as she felt a chill roll down her spine. She stayed rooted to the spot and merely stared at this stranger as he seemed to meander towards them, keeping as calm as she could for the time being.
Eduwiges followed Lif's lead, opting to stand her ground unarmed. She relaxed her pose but was ready for instant action. She cracked her knuckles and gave the man in red a cocky grin. 'You boys just can't leave well enough alone, can you?'
Ellsabeth kept her gaze fixed on the stranger while staying in her defensive stance not making a move but ready to respond as needed.
Xandilif crossed her arms, glancing for a moment to be sure her companions were under control. "That is close enough Priest....but ya get points for having the nerve to come here alone.
The man smiled pleasantly, the torchlight reflecting off the silver inlays in his teeth. "No threats, at least not from my side of the issue....First of all, Champion, I am a Deacon, not a Priest...and secondly.....WHAT makes you think I am alone.'
He reached out a gloved hand and made a slow, stately gesture like a music conductor, and the two dozen or so corpses littering the area slowly rose..and stood patiently at his command.
Finchley froze and then just sighed tiredly. "Again? Stop usin' folks like this. Let them rest in peace. Say what you want and then leave."
Eduwiges spat at the deacon's feet. 'You all must be pretty bored to keep coming after us. Have not enough of you died a couple of times? It cannot be pleasant.'
Ellsabeth stayed back for the moment, still ready for a fight as it seemed this was not unusual for her new friends to be in such a situation.
The man kept his genial smile in place and looked at Finchley."Ahhh...the famed Cenotaph. You don't look like much, but then, that is often deceiving. I do feel however what they see in you...'
Eduwiges did not like this 'Deacon' staring at Finch, so she sauntered over to stand in front of her friend. Ellsabeth did likewise, moving over to stand beside Edu creating a wall between the stranger and Finch
Finchley glared slightly at the deacon from between the two women and shook her head. "You've had your look then. So stop lookin' and leave."
The man held his hands out to show his innocence. “There, there, what ever your detiny holds is not my department...I am Desad, Deacon of the Last Breath...and I need to speak to you about a little project of mine.'
Aliandith narrowed her eyes. "Then do so..." She hissed angrily.
The man looked at Ali. "For an immortal you are really quite impatient, it must be terribly annoying for your companions. At any rate, I heard from a little bird you recently opted to ignore my requests to the Monk of Osgilliath and spent time with one Catalinna and...what we in Angmar indulgently call her family...How is the little dear? Keeping well? I hope she is cutting back on her drinking. If she is anything like her mother the LAST thing you want to do is get her drunk and around gentlemen of..shall we say…LOW character?'
Finchley peered over Edu and Elsa's shoulders. "Hey, get to the point. And keep Miss Catalinna's name out of your mouth and leave her alone." Though she knew she would likely see Cat again, she'd hoped to keep her out of this fire for as long as possible if she could.
Xandilif nods softly. "Oh yeah…my sister mentioned you. You are the one who runs around scaring little girls who don't know no better with stories about Witches. She said you screwed up way back when and missed that old bat Moyna and now are scrambling to keep yer ass out of a sling. Must be awkward for ya.
Desad frowned slightly...and looked around the five arrayed before him, his eye finally falling on Elsa. "Hmmm...you. I don't know you. Why don't I know you?'
Aliandith took a step forward, her voice now more angry than before. "Do -not- stall for time. Wretch. Speak your peace and begone. I shant warn you again."
Finchley stood on her toes and glared at the deacon over Edu and Elsa's shoulders. "Leave her outta this," she says, tilting her head toward Elsa. "She ain't your business. What is this 'little project' of yours and why come to us? Did you think we'd help you? Cause we won't. You're wastin' your time."
Ellsabeth again remained quiet letting Finch speak for her as her focus stayed on the stranger. Her mouth went a bit dry as she realized she had somehow attracted his attention. As he looked at her quizzically, she had to fight down every primal instinct she had not to turn and run. There was something beyond evil about this man..something…unnatural.
Desad stepped forward slightly. "That is awfully rude of you not to answer a civil question....and here things have been going to pleasantly....It seems your insolence must be curbed, lest your new friends lead you astray.'
There was almost a shudder in the air, a sudden lurching feeling of dissonance…and then Desad looked confused as Elsa seemed totally unaffected, even as the other four shook their heads from the sensation. "Well...this is most interesting....and unexpected....why are you warded, little strumpet?'
Aliandith looked between Elsa and the man. Her gaze hardening with fury as Finchley moved to stands in front of Elsa, as if she could protect her. "I'm sorry, Miss Elsa," she whispers over her shoulder. "I knew Lif said that travellin' with us would bring you enemies... I just wish it weren't this soon."
Eduwiges roared like a protective lioness and spun to gain momentum and brought her greatsword down between the deacon's neck and shoulder, however the blade passed harmlessly through. Desad merely shrugged as he stepped forward. "Oh....sorry about that...maybe next time....' His gaze then focused on Elsa again...."WHY are you WARDED?"'
Ellsabeth set her jaw and clipped her Chakram back to her belt as she drew her dagger. "Not the first spirit I have dealt with...won't be the last I suspect." She held the dagger in a reverse grip as she tried to thrust it at the man’s face.
Like Edu’s sword, the dagger passed through its target, but Desad seemed even more vexed. He shook his head. "No, this does not make sense...' Desad gestured and a mirror seemed to grow up from out of the earth. In the glass, images were spinning backwards, which to most of them were meaningless...but Elsa realized she was looking back through her life. Her travels, the death of her parents, her girlhood...until the image of her actually being born appeared in the mirror. For a moment she wondered at how young her mother looked, how eager her father seemed, pacing just at the edge of the light, and nearly wept for missing them so.
Desad shook his head and gestured again. The images kept going back, this time following Elsa's mother, back through her married life, to girlhood...finally to her being born as well and placed in Elsa's grandmother's arms...or at least she assumed that young woman was her grandmother before she was..well...old.
Desad frowned and focused harder as the mirror traced back through Elsa's grandmother's life, the images flying past, images which would not hold any meaning for Elsa, too far back in her family line. She would catch glimpses of places, resemblances, but then she saw her Grandmother as a girl, then a baby in Rohan.
Suddenly the images would darken, cries of pain and blood, a long drawn out scream. Her great grandmother is in labor but it is not going well. In the mirror they watched the midwife struggle to bring the baby into the world, the baby that would be Elsa’s grandmother. A male voice could be heard from outside the door, thick Rohirric accent heavy with disbelief and fear, calling in to the midwife. “Please, please Wise One, I will give you anything…ANYTHING. Save them. You have my oath.” The midwife, an old woman in a grey shawl, hair in a tight bun, smiled with a sad yet whimsical expression.
“Anything….” She whispered. “Offer accepted.” The woman whispered a cantrip, focused her concentration and soon, against all odds, the baby is in her hands, screaming but most certainly alive, the mother breathing raggedly, whispering praise to Bema. The midwife, seeming to have aged 10 years in just a few moments, traced a pattern on the baby’s forehead in her mother's blood...whispering. "I have kept my end, now you shall keep yours, Rider of Clapsgate. There, little one, this won’t mean anything to you, but someday, my blood will have need of your blood....and those who spring from you and yours will be of aid."'
As they watched, the midwife they recognized as the Witch Moyna passed the baby to her exhausted mother. Desade cursed. "DAMN that woman....' and made an angry gesture, shattering the mirror into dust and fragments.
Finchley looked a little wistful and had to stop herself from reaching out to the mirror before he smashed it, to the image of the woman she knew as her adopted grandmother. She gasped as it was shattered, then shook her head and refocused on Desad, striding towards him calmly. "Make your point. Leave her alone."
Ellsabeth stared at the Deacon of the Unsealed in disbelief. "What was that...WHAT DID YOU DO?"
Desad sighed, trying to smile but failing. It seemed that trick took a lot out of him. "I simply went back to find out a few things....it appears you are doomed to play a role in this little affair. No matter, all will take place as planned, regardless of that. The old woman was a fool if she thought otherwise. I clearly will not have an effect on the others, they have already made up their minds and will live to regret that. However, you have no stake in any of this...they are strangers to you...you have never even MET this Catalinna. Walk away, walk away now. You have no need to mix up in the destiny of others. Trust me, that elf with the large sword and her sister, they have done many companions to death with their schemes and tricks. Return to a pleasant inn somewhere and go on as you had been before. Spend your father's gold with a clear mind. These are not your problems, Ellsabeth of Clapsgate.'
Ellsabeth set her jaw and shrugged, 'Never was really good at walking away. Think I will stick around for awhile.'
Finchley smiled softly to herself at Elsa's reply and then looked at the Deacon. "So, quit playin' around like a child. Looks like Grams trumped you again, Deacon or no Deacon."
Desad sighed softly and ignored Finchley, staying focused on Elsa. "You still have time to avoid your doom, girl. Take it, I beseech you. I do not relish making you suffer, but I have a job to do. As for the rest of you...we will speak again soon, trust me. Very soon. I give you the same warning I gave the Herald and the Sage. Stay out of Witch business. You have enough grief of your own on the way. Now…AWAKEN.'
Suddenly they all woke around the fading embers of their fire, somewhat disoriented. Finch struggled to breathe, feeling like Desad was choking her, but then realized it was just Nik, having fallen asleep across her face and now snoring loudly.
Finchley carefully peeled Nik off her face and laid him down him gently and quickly aside before sitting up. She looked around right and left and then froze, having caught sight of something.
Xandilif shook her head and looked for the remains of the grog. "I fecking hate when the Unsealed do that....
Ellsabeth sat up nearly in a panic and looked to Eduwiges unsure what happened. Eduwiges just shook her head. “One of these days, I am not going to fall for those damn tricks and that will be the day when it is real...'
Xandilif looked at Edu....and started to laugh. “That’s right Greyhound, whatever you say.”
Finchley rubbed at her eyes and then crawled over to where she saw something gleaming in the dirt. She pulled on one glove to dig and brush some of the dirt away. She gently pulled out a small shard of mirror from the dirt...it gleamed darkly in the torchlight, almost smoking.
Aliandith flinched awake with the others, somewhat unsure where she was, or what had just happened but she drew one of her swords, ready to attack if need be before uttering a few words in Quenya, the sharpness in her tone a telltale sign the words were not kind ones...
Eduwiges whispered, 'You’re alright Ellsa” and hugged the woman. “Just one of the unsealed playing games again. It was all an illusion.'
Finchley held the shard in her gloved hand so that she didn’t cut herself and stood, lifting it up to the light so the banshee could see it.
Xandilif gazed at the shard then looked back at Edu. "Illusion? Ya sure about that?” She tossed a small cloth to Finch. "Wrap that up...we should make tracks. Sooner we are on the island the happier I will be.
Finchley frowned as she turned the shard over this way and that. She took the cloth and wrapped the shard in it before putting it in her pocket. "Maybe Calidis should have a look at it."
Eduwiges nodded, 'Calidis will know what to do with that. Her and Xan...' She cocked her head to the right as something occurred to her. 'Ahh, Lif, isn't that the mirror that came out of you and Xan's chest, the one with your parent’?'
Xandilif focused on closing her saddle bags and did not look up. "Yeah..similar....keep it covered.
Finchley nodded to Lif and called Destiny over to her. The horse trotted on over, jostling the raven on the saddle horn away with an angry croak.
'To hell with sleep. Lets get home.' Eduwiges threw Oenone's saddle blanket over her and began to put the saddle on.
Ellsabeth whistled for a moment and prepared her horse Artemis to leave. Her mind was buzzing with questions, but they could wait until they reached this Tol Lochul.
Aliandith sheathed her sword and took a deep breath. "If these wretches think to threaten me they will face wrath beyond their darkest fears." She clenched her fists, and looked rather pained as she prepared her mount.
They all quickly gathered their gear and ride out, Elsa still trying to process all she just witnessed. The eyes of the old woman who tended her ancestor, kind but cold, lingered in her thoughts...and soon would in her dreams.'
As they left only hoofprints behind in the ruins of Haldrith, dozens of eyes in the underbrush and the trees, perhaps hundreds, turned to watch them go. All was silent, all was still....and then they slowly began to follow.
