[Mkguild] Healing Wounds in Arabarb (2 of ?)

[C. Matthias]

The Fellowship meeting takes place in the story "Fellowship of the 
Egg".  The astute reader will recognize the three brothers even there. :-)

Healing Wounds in Arabarb
By Charles Matthias



January 21, 708 CR


The Fellowship meeting was in full swing by the time the three 
brothers finally reached Metamor. They had enjoyed their day with 
Davitt trading news and savouring boiled lobster. They'd left the 
lighthouse behind the next morning and followed the river north, 
flying rather lazily and without much rush. They performed aerobatic 
tricks for a while, before stopping along one of the wider banks to 
chat with some of the Fish who'd surfaced to enjoy the faint winter sunlight.

They learned little more than Davitt knew, but the news was very 
exciting. All of them were astounded to learn of Duke Thomas's 
wedding, and it gave strength to their wings as they continued on 
their way north. They spent their first evening nesting in a rookery 
in one of the small villages lying just south of the curse along the 
river. The lady of the house had known their family and was always 
happy to put them up; apart from the usual she baked them little 
cakes that they tried to eat as daintily as possible; four months out 
on the sea living like real birds always ruined their once fastidious habits.

The next day they continued their unhurried voyage, passed the 
boundary of the curse that morning, and settled for the night in 
Goffs Oak. One of the local farmers welcomed them and gave them a 
warm place to stay for only the price of their tales of adventure 
down south. The farmer and his wife were both still human; the curses 
had swapped their genders, so that both of them could now honestly 
claim to be both fathers and mothers. Although three of their 
children had died young, there were those old enough to remember when 
their mother had been 'Dad', and those young enough to only know her 
as 'Mom'. And when they were there, they were treated like just three 
more of the boys, a fact that delighted them even if Machias was the 
only one of them still under twenty and young enough to reasonably call a boy.

On the third day they reached Metamor, the afternoon rushing upon 
them as the sun began its descent toward the mountains. It always 
felt strange to them to return, but within a few minutes, they 
waddled down the halls of the Keep waving to friends they hadn't seen 
since last Summer, and sharing gossip. They dithered only a little 
while as their webbed feet walked the ancient halls of Metamor and 
their eyes admired its splendour, before looking for the Fellowship hall.

They were met at the entrance by Jon the artificer in his vicious 
reptilian guise, and Norbert the man who had once been the wife of a 
prominent merchant now transformed into a rooster. They exchanged 
quick greetings, before being swept inside. The Fellowship hall was 
warmer than Sutthaivasse, and filled to the brim with reptile and 
fellow avian Keepers. They waddled to the sandy floor and enjoyed the 
warmth against their webbed toes, and began to regale their friends 
and several newcomers, including some who'd escaped the leper colony, 
with stories of their adventures.

They did love the Fellowship of the Egg. As much as they enjoyed the 
company of Davitt and their other mammal friends, there was nothing 
quite like being with fellow birds and even with the reptiles. Their 
excitement was as boisterous as the sheer exhilaration of flight. 
They hopped, cawed, spread wings, and hooted their delight as the 
words of their tales bounced back and forth from beak to beak. Many 
others listened with rapt fascination. There was even a lady 
alligator who'd not been cursed a month whose long body swayed to the 
rhythm of their words as if she'd always been serpentine.

Their warm welcome home to Metamor was interrupted when the massive 
lizard Copernicus bore down on them with an official look to his 
yellow eyes. "I see you three have returned. I need to speak with you 
for a moment. Can you excuse us?"

The brothers gave each other curious glances, then apologized to the 
crowd of reptiles and birds that had gathered around them. They 
followed the big lizard toward a corner of the Fellowship hall that 
had been left unoccupied. It was where Emily and her advisors debated 
matters of importance to the Fellowship, but there was nobody there 
now. Emily reclined on the Perch and waved to them, but turned to 
watch the rest of the Fellowship instead.

Once Copernicus had led them to the far corner out of earshot of even 
the komodo, he turned and nodded his head to each of them, "It is 
good that you finally returned. We were expecting you a few days ago."

"There were storms on the Sea of Stars," Quoddy explained. "We were 
going to report all that we saw and heard after the Fellowship 
meeting was over."

"And you still will," Copernicus replied. "But there's more this 
time. Duke Thomas himself wants to see you three." The lizard sighed 
as he looked them over. "I think he's going to be asking something 
very hard of you three."

Machias and Lubec both stiffened, small eyes widening and sharpening 
as they stared at the lizard, wondering what more news he had to 
tell. Quoddy cawed and tried to keep his wings still. "What is it?"

"I don't know," Copernicus admitted. "I was only told to bring you 
three with all possible haste once you returned to Metamor."

Machias gestured with one wing and his orange and black beak. "Can we 
stay for the rest of the meeting? I haven't even had a chance to 
sample the meats."

The lizard closed his eyes and sighed. "I'm afraid not. Take a few 
minutes to enjoy what you wish, but then meet me by the door. And 
don't tell anyone I let you have those few minutes."

The brothers all looked at each other, a genuine fear bubbling up in 
their chests. What could possibly be so important that they wouldn't 
even have a chance to enjoy their first day back.

----------

Duke Thomas met with them in his personal study, with Copernicus, 
Misha, and Andwyn in attendance. The fox and bat were arguing over 
details on a map spread before them on the table, but their 
disagreement did not sound contentious. The horse lord sat with one 
hoof-like hand pressed against his brow, ears folded back in 
ponderous thought. When Copernicus ushered them in, Thomas nodded but 
did not smile. "Good, you've arrived. Now we can settle this. Do you 
prefer perches or chairs?"

"Chairs, your grace," Quoddy said, a bit intimidated as always to be 
in the Duke's presence. "Perches are for birds without webbing."

Misha and Copernicus retrieved three cushioned chairs, their backs 
decorated with a stylized version of the Hassan horse-head heraldry. 
The sea birds watched, their eyes taking in the warm interior of the 
study. Draped windows occupied the far wall, while rich carpets 
covering almost all of the stone floors. The walls on either side 
were occupied by bookshelves filled with rolled parchments, several 
books, maps, and various contrivances of lenses and mounts for use in 
studying intricate details for eyes not good at such things anymore. 
A stone hearth with escutcheon and crossed spear and sword displayed 
above roared with a pleasant fire. A mahogany cabinet flanked the 
doors, holding silver carafes and delicate wine glasses and goblets.

Once the chairs were in place, each of them, still as human shaped as 
they could be, climbed into the chairs, and then sat down, legs 
folded beneath them like a bird perching in a nest. The cushioned 
chairs were comfortable beneath them though their tail feathers did 
push against the back of the chairs; even though tail openings had 
been made they were too low for theirs. Still, they did not express 
this; it was rude to say so to their host, especially one as 
dignified as Duke Thomas.

"I'm sorry to have dragged you here on such short notice," Thomas 
began as the fox and bat ceased their argument to mull over the map. 
The horse lord gestured to that map and leaned forward. "But you 
three are the only ones here at Metamor who can do what we need. Misha?"

The fox nodded to Thomas and took a deep breath, "I'd really rather 
have one of my Long Scouts do this kind of work, but I don't have 
anybody who can go to Arabarb without being noticed." He put his paws 
on the map and they pondered over the many drawings. Quoddy 
recognized what he thought was the mountains, but the coastline was 
unfamiliar to him. He'd never gone north before. It just wasn't safe.

"This is Arabarb," Misha said as he traced out a crescent of land 
between the sea and the mountains. "It is heavily forested and very 
isolated. It also hosts one of only two known passes into the 
Giantdowns. And for the last nine years it's been under a disgusting 
man named Baron Garadan Calephas's control. He used to be one of 
Nasoj's lieutenants, but after the failed Winter assault he's sworn 
off that allegiance." Misha ground his knuckles into the table, 
hackles rising on the back of his neck. "He almost slaughtered us 
when we harassed the fleeing Lutin army last year. The man should not 
be underestimated. And as long as he controls Arabarb, there will 
never be stability in the western Giantdowns."

"What could we do against him?" Machias asked in obvious fear. The 
puffin shook his head and scooted back on his chair as far as he 
could go. "We can't fight anyone. We can barely pick up knives let 
alone swords."

"You aren't going to be fighting anyone," Misha said with a quick 
shake of his head. "If it was just a matter of defeating his armies, 
we'd have sent every dragon we have into Arabarb to burn his castle 
down. The bastard expects us to do something like that! We don't know 
all of his defences, so we dare not risk a frontal assault like that. 
Not after what he's shown he's capable of."

"So what are we to do?" Machias asked, eyes flitting from the fox to 
the horse and back again. Lubec sat as still as a statue, moving only 
to blink and breath. Quoddy tried to keep his wings from fluttering. 
He did not like where this was going.

"We know that there are many in Arabarb trying to overthrow 
Calephas," Misha glanced at Andwyn and the bat nodded faintly. "But 
we don't have any contact with them anymore. But when we did, they 
made one thing very clear to us. Even if Metamor were to attack and 
kill Calephas, we'd be invaders and they would chase us out. We want 
to be allies with them. They want our help, but they don't want us to 
win the victory for them."

Quoddy cawed as his eyes studied the map. He'd learned some of his 
letters, but it had been seven years since he'd ever really tried to 
make use of that knowledge. He ignored the names on the map and 
focussed on the depictions of mountains, rivers, and cities. The 
largest city in Arabarb was situated in very nearly the centre of the 
forested expanse, along the widest river, and if he understood the 
map correctly, on a declivity. This must be the base of Calephas's power.

"They want to defeat Calephas and claim the victory for themselves," 
Quoddy mused. "To save face, to declare their independence, their 
bravery, what?"

"All three and more perhaps," Thomas replied with a slight tilt to 
his equine brow. "The exact reason is not that important. We want 
them to succeed. They were once allies to Metamor and they could be 
again. If Arabarb is a strong ally of Metamor again, Nasoj will be 
completely contained and even if we are never able to assault 
Nasojassa, we will never have to fear his power overwhelming us."

"Which brings us to you," Andwyn said softly. The bat's reddish eyes 
did not linger on any one of them for long, but passed back and forth 
to make sure they knew he considered them equals in this venture. 
"Before Calephas renounced Nasoj last year, we had several spies in 
Arabarb collaborating with the resistance. Nine months ago they were 
all exposed and killed. We have not been able to gain any good 
information out of Arabarb since."

"And you want to send us into that!" Machais squawked in horror. "I 
don't want to die too!"

The bat lifted his wings and shook his head. "We don't want any of 
you going into the capital, or even near it. You are all sea birds 
that are commonly seen in Arabarb for most of the year. We want you 
to stay along the coastline. Calephas's reach is weakest there. There 
you can contact the resistance movement. You will be conduits of 
information and protected as well as we can. There will be risk, I do 
not lie, but you should not be in the same danger the other spies 
were. They served in Calephas's household. Once that mage arrived, 
there was no way for them to hide. I only wish we'd been able to rescue them."

"Mage?" Lubec asked.

Misha grunted and seemed to grind his teeth together. The bat 
continued, his voice level but clearly sympathetic. "Gmork. That is 
his name. We know very little about him; we don't even know what he 
looks like. But we do know that he is one of the mages who helped 
Nasoj craft the curse. We believe he helped with the mind altering 
components of the spell."

Machias stared at him open-beaked. "The what?"

"The parts of the spell that made we seven act like animals, others 
act like babes, and others to be so filled with lust they could think 
of nothing else. We think Gmork aided with this. Regardless, he was 
able to see who in Calephas's household was a Metamorian by the 
telltale mark of the curse. They did not have a chance." Andwyn 
appeared to fume for a moment, then the bat collected himself and 
folded his wings across his chest like a monk meditating. "You shall 
keep well out of his reach. Do not take any risks on this venture. 
Your job is only to be contacts with the resistance. They are used to 
dealing with Metamorians; they will not be alarmed at your shape."

Thomas leaned forward and his warm breath passed over their beaks. "I 
know this is a lot to ask of you three. You have provided us many 
details of affairs to the south for years now. I ask you now to do 
the same for Arabarb. I would not ask it if it were not vitally 
important. Your lives will be in danger, but not in vain. Never in 
vain. And once Calephas has been overthrown and Arabarb freed, you 
will be heroes of Metamor and honoured."

The three brothers looked at each other. Quoddy could see that 
Machias was scared of it, and that Lubec was resigned to it. His 
heart thudded against his breast. He too was scared, but he also knew 
there wasn't really any choice. Both were looking to him to be the 
big brother. To be the father.

He tucked his wings in close, and twisted his yellow beak back to the 
Duke. "Your grace, when do we need to leave?"

----------

May He bless you and keep you in His grace and love,

Charles Matthias


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