<HTML> Part 53! Things CAN get worse. *** When I finally found them, the skunk and raccoon were at a table  together, bent over a simple meal and talking softly to each other. I saw that they were splitting a loaf of rye bread, the skunk placing small pieces of  it in her muzzle and slowly eating as Rickkter whispered near her ear. The rats, Julian, Elliot and Goldmark, everyone from the cellars, stopped a few feet from the table, waiting for the eating couple to notice us. I had to clear my throat to make them look up. "I was wondering what had happened to you, Rick," I told him, softly smiling. "Who is this?" "Ah, yes. I'm sorry about dropping you guys like that." He ran his muzzle along the skunk's head in a quick nuzzle. "Just that some things are more important to me." He returned his attention us. "That and the Lightbringer wanted to have a few words with me. She told me to tell you that she wants to talk to you about those soul stones we found in the labyrinth as well. She's quite intent on knowing their exact location. But where are my manners?" He straightened up and gestured to the skunk beside him using a piece of bread. "Everyone, this is Kayla, my love. Kayla, this is Julian, Elliot and Goldmark," he continued, pointing out the white rat, grey one, and black rat. "And lastly, that is Jacob Alton." Rick paused, looking at me for a long moment, I couldn't tell if was respect or a slight dejection. "We met in town. He was the one who kept me from  freezing out there and helped me back to the Keep were we ran into the others." Kayla turned up and looked at me with a pair of wide eyes, studying me with an intensity I had  never had directed towards me before. Never one for such critical examinations, I was the first to break eye contact and dropped my gaze from her's. "You saved his life?" asked the skunk eventually. I folded his ears back and nodded once. It didn't understand why she was looking at me like I was a hero. I would never claim to be one nor should I ever. "Thank you." She looked over at Rick and smile before returning her gaze to me. The way her eyes were lit up, such vivid blue against the deep black of her fur, I could see some of the beauty that that crazed raccoon found in her. "From the bottom of my heart, thank you. I am deeply in you debt for that." "Really, it was nothing. He saved my life before that, and I returned the favour like any good person should." "Maybe to him." She squeezed the paw of her raccoon tighter. "But you still brought him back to me. That's something I can't forget." "Um, well, yes." I reached up and scratched at the back of my head at an imaginary itch. "I was just honoured of the experience and to have a captivated audience for one of my stories." Nervously I looked around, uncomfortable by the situation. "I must go. If the Lightbringer wants to see me, I guess I had best go now." Rick nodded and turned to the rats. "Why don't you guys grab something to eat, join us?" Their squeaks ascended as I turned and went off. My throat had gone quite dry as I made my way past the people in the temple. The high priestess herself wants to see me! True that I had seen her many times already around the Keep since the attack, but never had I actually had the chance to speak with her. I was not a believer of the religion or of any but I do remember the small kindness she gave me when we were children. I still carry the gold in my pocket and in my heart. But my love is for Christina Fields, she warms my heart with the aura of love. The Lightbringer brings a warm smile to my face, nothing more. I had seen Raven enough over the years, at public gatherings, celebrations, and even on occasion walking the walls of the Keep that she seemed more like a friendly, familiar figure and not a holy woman respected from a distance, but I was still nervous. She often had that flighty wolf minstrel with her, but I never paid him much heed at all. Besides, now it was just me and her and a million thanks for a simple gesture on her part. Raven was at her desk when I nudged open the door and announced myself. She gave me just about the most charming smile I have ever been the recipient of. No teeth, of course, just a very pleasant drawing up of her lips and righting of her ears. Ah, like silvered temples those ears, I could write poems about them for years. "Please, have a seat, Jacob. There are a few things I'd like to ask you about." "Certainly," I replied, slipping my tail through the gracious hole in the back of the proffered chair. "What would you like to know?" "I'll keep this simple. What I want to know about are the soul gems; specifically their location. Could you find them again if I wanted you to?" "Certainly!" I said, my whole body -- from my tail to the tips of my ears - perking up. "I know exactly where they are located." "Excellent. That's good to hear Jacob. From what I heard, you were down in those tunnels for several hours. Not many people could remember their way like that. When this is all over, you'll have to take my acolytes and me to find them." I suddenly recalled a fantasy that I've had about Raven for years; that one day I would be at The Tavern's Hearth, treating myself to a decent meal in celebration of having sold one of my manuscripts when *she* would come in. Sometimes there was a reason ? like The Tavern was full ? and sometimes there wasn't, but in the end she would end up coming over to my table and asking if she could share it. And, with no hint of nervousness or trepidation, I would agree. And we'd have a good dinner, and I would make witty conversation, and sometimes we'd go walk the streets together in friendly banter, and sometimes not. But the end result was always my walking away having made some sort of positive impression upon her. But those are a poor man's dreams. Sitting there, staring at her across her large, ornate, cluttered desk, I asked myself if this could be more than a friendship? Am I lying to myself because of a distaste to the Lightbringers and her affinity to that. No, it was more than an affinity, this was her life, and her calling. What could I convey that could flatter this woman of intrigue and mystery. My bushy, black tail sank to the floor. No matter how much I might want to, to try and impress her, I could not lie to her. Not when she was counting on me that much. "Well... that's not quite what I meant. If I were on the bridge once more, then I could find them easily enough. As for the tunnels... the best I could do is follow my own scent trail down. Which would quite possibly lead us in circles for a few hours before reaching the bridge once more. If you wanted to navigate those tunnels, perhaps you should ask one of the rats. They... they've more experience with the tunnels than I do, I fear." Raven wuffed a sigh, turning her head away from me. She only looked down at a patch of her chamber's floor. "Did you... did you happen to bring any of the gems back with you? Did you take any besides the one you gave Rick to examine?" In dejection I hung my head, giving it a slight shake. "No, ma'am. I had a second one picked up, but dropped it back when I learned what it was. I  had heard they were things of the Daedra and not to be trifled with." Raven nodded sadly at that what I said, not seeming to pay too much attention. Silence filled the room after I had stopped speaking, but I couldn't bring myself to do anything to fill it. Eventually she turned her gaze from the floor to the ceiling beams and rubbed her chin in thought. "Well... they may just have a chance now," she muttered softly to  herself. Her smile looked a bit forced as her gaze returned to me. "Thank you for your help, Jacob. I'll be sure to speak with one of the rats in regards to following the tunnels. As for the soul gems, you made the right choice. It' s not something mortals should trifle with. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to try and work on some new strategies to use against the insurgents." She gave me that wooden smile again. I stuttered at her, my jaw not quite working right. "Of... of course," I finally managed to get out. "Thank you for your time." With that, I got up and walked towards the door when I turned to look at her, I wouldn't waste an opportunity like this. "I remember you when I was a child. I was a trickster in the street, more begging than labouring for money when you passed by me. You were a beautiful girl in those days, not that you aren't now, but you were kinder to me on that one day than fate had ever been in my whole life." I reached into my pocket and pulled the gold coin. "I could never spend it, even when I was laying in the street, even when I was crying for food. For some reason, I could never part with it." Her jaw slightly dropped when I showed it to her. Inside, I wondered if I sparked a recollection of a memory. She stood silent and I stuttered one more time. "I am a poor scoundrel who is just trying to fool another who has much more than I." I turned and left the Lightbringer's chamber. I made my way through the main hall without really seeing anyone in it, my thick black tail seeking refuge between my legs. It was just about the worst. How could I have EVER thought that a woman like that would want anything to do with a mangy animal like me. I grit my teeth tightly together, my lips and whiskers drawing up in a snarl. The truth hurts when it comes crashing in fiery embers all around you. What a moron I am to try and be more than what fate intended for me! ******** Complications 12/26 Daria let out a long sigh, trying to ignore the pain in her side and the chill of the stone floor against her back. Merai was working her hands slowly over the warrior's ribcage, using a Lightbringer healing technique to shift the broken bones back into place and fuse them together again. It was a wonderful tool when rapid recovery was needed, but it did nothing for the pain inflicted by jagged shards of bone pushing their way through her chest cavity to their rightful places. "How much longer?" she asked through gritted teeth. "A few minutes more." Merai smiled at her friend's expression. "Well, you don't want me puncturing a lung or something, do you?" "No, thank you." Garulf sat beside them on the floor of the temple hall, watching impassively as Caitlyn examined his arms for broken bones. Daria's mother pressed down gently on one spot just below the bear's elbow. "Does that hurt?" "Aye." Another spot. "What about here?" "Aye." "Here?" "Aye." The girl sighed, shaking her head. "Well, your skin must be black and blue everywhere, but I can feel no breaks. Count yourself lucky." The bear grinned. "Thank the gods for chain mail." "And the fact that there weren't many archers," Daria added wryly. The door to the Lightbringer's chambers opened, and Raven stepped out into the temple hall. Taking a look around the room at the healers, acolytes and wounded soldiers present, she approached Daria with a questioning gaze. "Don't move," Merai cautioned, as her friend made eye contact with the wolfen priestess. Daria nodded in acknowledgement, laying her head back down on the floor and trying to relax. A particularly large piece of bone had just started shifting... "Lothanasa," she said in greeting. "Squire," Raven replied with a nod. "How was your latest battle?" "The hardest we've seen, Mistress," Daria said, gritting her teeth as the migrant bone shard worked its way past her lung. "Between the explosion from the trebuchet magazine and the battle that followed, I estimate seventy to a hundred enemy casualties." Her face fell. "But we lost Private Morel." Raven closed her eyes and nodded, her expression sorrowful. "I am sorry to hear that. I counseled Morel for a time after his husband's death. He was a good man." "Aye." Daria frowned. "There's something else, as well, Lightbringer. During the battle, the Key ... did not work as it should." Raven cast a sidelong glance at Caitlyn, apparently debating whether they should be having this conversation in front of her. Daria's mother, after all, had no idea of the Key's nature. "Let me see it," she said at last. Daria looked at Merai, who paused, then nodded once. Carefully, the warrior woman removed the necklace and held it up for Raven to take, being careful not to move her chest in doing so. The priestess studied the Key closely, doubtless examining its aura as well as its physical appearance. "I see nothing wrong with the Key itself," she said. "There isn't anything wrong with the Key itself," said a voice on the far side of the room. "There's something wrong with the Keep." For an instant, Daria saw Raven's ears flatten, the corner of her muzzle twitching in agitation. Then she composed herself and turned to face the man walking towards them. "Hello, Rickkter." "Hello, Lightbringer," he said, in the pleasant sort of voice that the proverbial Mongoose might use with the Cobra if they were to meet by chance at a royal banquet. "I really must thank you for your acolytes' hospitality in welcoming me into your temple." "Our house is open to all Keepers," Raven replied smoothly. "Rickkter helped save our lives in that battle," Daria put in, anxious to defuse this sudden tension between her benefactors. "If not for him, we all likely would have been killed." The Lightbringer looked at her for a moment, her expression unreadable, before turning back to the raccoon. "I am not surprised," she said. "Rickkter is one of the best warriors in all of Metamor. Thank you for your help." Rickkter crossed his arms over his chest in an "X" shape, fists clenched, and bowed slightly. "I live to serve," he said -- his voice, at least, totally sincere. "I believe you were saying that there is something wrong with the Keep?" Raven prompted. "Aye. To all appearances, something -- or someone -- is interfering with Metamor's variable geometry." Raven raised one eyebrow, her ears pricking forward. "Any idea what that could be?" she asked speculatively. The raccoon shrugged. "Why don't you ask her?" Slowly, a small smile crept on the wolf-woman's face. "Merai?" "Aye, Sister Raven?" "See to it that I'm not disturbed." "Of course." Without another word, Raven turned and strode quietly back into her chambers, shutting the door behind her. ~0~ Once inside her bedroom, Raven cast her eyes up at the ceiling. "What's going on, Kyia?" Reaching out to the aura of the Keep all around her, Raven immediately sensed an undercurrent of frustration. And beneath it, something like ... fear? "Black magic," Kyia said bitterly. "They have cast an enchantment at my gates, cutting me off from sections of the Keep." She paused, and when her voice came back it was softer, filled with a quiet terror. "Raven ... I can't feel those parts of the Keep anymore. They are like ... like dead limbs on my body." Raven clenched her fists. "Who would dare to do such a thing?" she growled, righteous indignation springing up within her. It was one thing for the wizard to attack the human occupants of the Keep; but to attack Metamor herself, to assault a being who may well have existed since the very dawn of time... "This was Ba'al's doing," Kyia spat. "His chosen servants have entered my house and desecrated it." The priestess looked up in alarm. "What do you mean, Ba'al's servants?" "You know what I mean," the nymph replied. "Moranasi." "Moranasi," Raven breathed. She shook her head, hardly believing what she was hearing. Moranasi -- "Shadow Bringers". The secret order of mages created by Ba'al as a perverted reflection of the Lothanasi. Their kind had not been seen in centuries -- and yet they were here, now. And they were working with Nasoj to destroy Metamor. "How many?" the wolf-woman asked. "Two masters, four apprentices," Kyia said. "With the one master being greater than the other." "A full circle." She let out a ragged sigh. "Where are they now?" "I do not know. They are within the area that has been lost to me." The nymph paused, sounding thoughtful. "They appeared again within my senses a short time ago, but soon after that area, too, went dark." "They must be expanding the spell through the Keep," Raven mused. "Aye. They tried to isolate Daria and her friends, but I fought the effects long enough for them to escape ... though only just." The priestess nodded, frowning, and turned to look out the window. The storm was still going strong. "We will have to seek the gods' help in this, of course." The Keep's aura changed subtly, as if to imply that Kyia found the suggestion distasteful. "Do what you must," she said at last. Raven glanced up at the ceiling. "Always," she murmured. ~0~ The door to Raven's chambers opened again, and the Lightbringer strode forth with a look of iron determination on her face. Merai had just finished healing Daria's ribs, and the redhead swiftly rose to attention. "Squire, I have a new assignment for you," Raven said. In a few minutes, Raven had outlined the threat described by Kyia -- a circle of six dark mages called the Moranasi. "How soon will your team be ready for action again?" she asked. Daria looked around at the other members of her squad. All of their physical injuries had been healed, but they were exhausted from a long day of fighting -- to say nothing of their mad dash to escape the lutins a few hours ago. "We should be ready tomorrow morning, Mistress," she said at last. "I dare not try anything further tonight." "Agreed," Raven said. "Tomorrow morning, then, I want you to send out your best scouts. Find these Moranasi and report back immediately." "Aye-aye, ma'am." Daria turned to her comrades. "Rest well tonight, people. In the morning we're going hunting for shadows." End part 53</HTML>