Reunion

"What was that?"

"Hmmm?" Elmerin wasn't really paying attention. He was trying to figure out where the Death Eagles' camp was located among all the tents and stalls that had sprung up since his party first entered the labyrinth.

"THAT. When Falchan drinks that much, usually you either sidestep and ignore him, or ask him big-worded confusing questions until he doesn't know which end is up. You don't face off with him."

"Mmm." The camp should be this way. "Rammeld was there."

"What does that have to do with it?"

"Rammeld may have been overseeing the clearing of the labyrinth under the king's command, but overall his authority in Cothmore County was limited. He could nose around, but not do much." Yes, there was that large oak. The camp should be straight west from it.

"Once the threat of dungeonization came up and the weird Golrin-dragon-whoever-they-are were found, the county entered a state of emergency. Full authority shifted entirely to Rammeld as the ranking person on site."

"What do the dragons have to do with it? You're walking too fast. Slow down!"

"Aah." Elmerin did so. "Bizarre cults are usually involved in some take over the kingdom or world or end of the world nonsense. Or want to serve the demon king. Or something similarly annoying." He ran his hand through his hair. "It's always dangerous and troublesome for everyone else. And one with these dragons' apparent resources? Extra trouble.

"Until the dragons are taken care of, locally, all the overpowered monsters are dealt with, and it's certain that the danger of the dungeon forming is gone, Rammeld will remain in command. Based on normal procedure, that'll be at least another month."

"A… month?" Drysia chewed her thumbnail. "That manticore -you said three weeks. If Falchan isn't healed, or is restricted to his house, he won't be getting in the way of the hunt."

"And that's without the evidence of the shit the Cothmores have been up to. Once Rammeld kicks off a full investigation, they'll likely be very limited in what they're allowed to do for quite a while." The tents of the Death Eagles came into sight. "It wouldn't surprise me if they lost the county over the Lustvine alone. Cultivating that-"

Drysia's eyes narrowed as she listened. "How tired are you really?" 

"Exhausted." Elmerin rubbed the left side of his face and sighed. "But when I saw the opportunity, I knew I needed to grab it."

"Elmerin! Drysia!" Alexavier had spotted them approaching and ran to meet them. "Dammit, I told Rammeld to tell me when you showed up!"

Glancing over him, noting the disheveled clothing and eyes shadowed from lack of sleep, Elmerin shook his head. "Let me guess. The Death Eagles were temporarily banned from the labyrinth after the fight with the vine monster, you haven't been sleeping or eating unless made to, and you've been all up in Rammeld or Anol's business until they booted you back to camp and told you to get some rest. And you just woke up from a nap brought on by exhaustion."

At the look on Alexavier's face, Drysia snickered. Elmerin had apparently been spot on. Alexavier shook his head and reached for Elmerin, stopping short of taking his shoulders.

"I'm glad you're safe."

Elmerin refused to look at him. "Where's Kres?"

Alexavier dropped his hands. "He's with Riyo. Follow me." He motioned to Drysia. "You're welcome, too."

She was grateful for the invitation. There was no way she was going back to the Cothmore area if she could help it, and the Death Eagles had always been welcoming. Riyo had even taught her to read, behind Falchan's back. 

Around a central fire the Death Eagles tents were pitched, along with Elmerin's. Alexavier gestured to it.

"Good idea leaving the tent with Kres. I've stocked it with some supplies."

Elmerin grunted and sat down by the fire. Reefka and Kaada were also there, taking care of small chores like weapon cleaning and shaving kindling. They happily greeted the exhausted adventurers.

"Sit down, Drysia. Here, both of you eat something." Kaada poured two bowls of soup from the pot over the fire. "We've been keeping a good supply warm, waiting for you to get back."

Reefka pulled out a couple of thermos waterskins. They were enchanted to keep the contents hot or cold, an idea inspired by some strange containers the Summoned had owned. "I have hot spiced wine or hot mela here. Which would you like?"

"Mela. Please." Drysia said. Elmerin made a face. "I'll take the wine." He looked around the camp. "Where's Kres?"

"Riyo's teaching him water magic, and took him a little ways away from camp after he nearly put the fire out," Reefka said. 

Even though Tasnians had excellent night vision, and their world provided many ways of quickly making a fire in almost any situation, they had a near superstitious fear of their fires going out at night or venturing too far in the dark without a light in hand. Some of that tension extended even to the day. 

"I hope she can do better than me." Elmerin tasted the soup; Kaada was a good cook even when it didn't involve baking. "My teaching him has been going slowly."

Alexavier looked around while handing him a mug of wine -damn it, had Kaada snuck off again? "That's partially on you. Your understanding of magic is so instinctive, it's hard for you to convey it to anyone else." 

Elmerin glared at him and drank his soup directly from the bowl.

"Tch, manners." Reefka clicked her tongue.

"If I cared about manners, I'd take that promotion." He felt rather than saw the small body launching towards him and lifted his mug and bowl out of the danger zone.

Small arms wrapped around him as far as they could go and hugged him for all they were worth. "Elmerin!" Kres was crying. "You came back!"

Reefka quickly took the dishes so he could return Kres' hug. "There's no way I wouldn't." Elmerin wondered when a duty to take care of the boy had turned into affection for him. 

His reply was an even more fierce hug before Kres let go and sat beside him. Reefka handed Elmerin back the mug with the now cooling wine and set the empty bowl by the fire. Riyo, her expression highly amused, sat down on a neighboring log.

"He's doing well at his lessons," she said. "He's easily able to do at least one basic spell in each element."

"Thank you." Elmerin pinched the bridge of his nose. Damn, he was tired. It felt a bit like when he'd had a bit too much to drink. "Alex, I hate to ask you this, but…"

"Of course I'll keep watching him while you rest. Do you have to report to Rammeld tomorrow? I'll watch him for that, too." His face grew grim. "But I have to tell you something."

Elmerin looked up from where he was using Warm to reheat his drink.

"When we were fighting the vine monster, Kres got too close to it. I had a quick, vision, I'd call it. It was of Falchan kicking Kres into range of the monster's grasp."

"You too?" Drysia burst out. 

Elmerin's face went dark.

"Is that why you did that?" Alexavier asked Drysia. To the others, "Drysia pulled Kres out of range and hurried him off to Nera."

The swallow Elmerin had just taken came back out in a hurry. "What!?" He spit and coughed as some of the wine went the wrong way. 

Riyo handed him a towel to wipe the wine off his arm and face, while Alexavier offered a waterskin. 

"Adventurers look out for each other, especially when they can see trouble coming." Drysia's gaze was planted firmly on the ground, her mouth pressed thin. "You don't let a fellow adventurer die if you can help it."

Reefka, next to Kres, quickly hugged him while glaring daggers at Drysia. Elmerin looked like he had something to say, but looked down at Kres and held back. Kres had buried his face in Reefka's side; Elmerin put a comforting hand on his back. 

"Hello!" No one had seen Kaada slip back into the group. "Um, did I miss something?"

Alexavier waved his hand in a "let it be" signal. "Nothing vital. Where were you?"

"I set up our spare tent for the lovely lady Drysia." Kaada gave a gracefully exaggerated bow. "She needs plenty of rest to be at her best and to deal with the Cothmores."

Riyo eyed Drysia's outfit, then Elmerin's. "I'll chase up some clothing for both of you while you're resting. Especially you, El," she overrode his protest, "I think you've wrecked every spare outfit you brought with you from the city. There's enough merchants here I should be able to find something."

"I can do that my-"

"You look like hell." Riyo glared at him. "You are resting. Or do I need to get a healer to order it?"

The likeliest healer to handle a simple order would likely be… Nera, due to being the lowest ranked and powered priest present. Elmerin rapidly agreed to Riyo's terms. He was in no mood to deal with Nera or any of her questions about his run-in with Falchan. 

Things were already troublesome enough.

*******

People in this chapter:

Elmerin

Drysia

Alexavier

Reefka: Rank: Sapphire

Kaada: Rank: Sapphire

Riyo

Kres

Items, magic:

Thermos: Some of the Summoned brought thermoses with them when they were taken from Earth. Tasnians found the idea amazing, and both Crafters and mages researched the idea. The magic version is embedded with spells that either keep the temperature of the contents the same as when they were placed in the container, or heat or chill the contents to a point predetermined by the enchantment. The first kind are much more expensive. There are various types of food and drink containers with similar magic.