Season of Bloom - 11. Sorrow's Secrets

Kiba slid off Khemet’s back with a whimpering groan, collapsing on the ground as Lapis dismounted easily. How they had gone all day without a break crossing hills and rivers, was beyond the kobold, but he was glad they were stopping now.

Until he was scooped up by the cat yet again, only to be deposited on Linzi’s nag.

“Kiba needs a break…” the kobold grumbled.

“Kiba needs to learn to push himself. We’re making the trading post today, and tomorrow we will deal with these… paladins,” the dark one muttered, his hood secured around his head and the usual flame extinguished to avoid spooking his own horse.

He turned to the fighter, muttering something, and she nodded toward Lapis before nudging her horse back onto the road. Kiba frowned at the cats left by the side of the road with a horse, wondering why they kept going off on their own. Everyone knew safety came in numbers. Everyone except Lapis, it seemed. He would have to teach the cat to be around people.

The kobold let out a sigh as Linzi wrapped her arms around him securely.

“He’ll be okay. I’ve talked with Kaessi, and she’s gotten out of some pretty crazy situations,” she said. “Lapis can handle this no problem, and we’ll wait for him at Oleg’s.”

“He shouldn’t be alone,” Kiba frowned.

“He’s not. He has Khemet,” the halfling said.

Lapis watched the group leave, the amurrun letting out a quiet sigh as he turned back toward the path to Sorrowflow. He was surprised there was still a path to travel, overgrown as it was.

Khemet followed him silently, the tiger’s head turning back to watch Kiba riding off into the sunset. They were a little tired from the walk, but Lapis figured they could make it to the trading post with little trouble after helping Kalikke. Assuming Kalikke was the one who met them.

Four tieflings stood at the end of the path, three of them dressed in bright clothes, as though they were jesters in a king’s court. Lapis was relieved to recognize the fourth as Kalikke, bright blue eyes twinkling at him slightly as she recognized him in turn.

“So this is the help you found? A pair of cats?” one of the tieflings asked, looking the amurrun over. “Well at least the tiger should scare off whatever is in the ruins- ow!”

The tiefling winced as one of his companions pulled at his horns.

“Quit it Naiho, can’t you see you’re upsetting her?”

The second tiefling turned toward Kalikke.

“Sorry Elder. And I’m sorry to you too, honoured guest. Naiho had an issue with a donkey kicking his head when he was younger. Knocked all sense out of him.”

Kalikke stamped her foot, the tieflings falling silent as they looked at her.

“That’s enough Sweet Teeth. The baron and I will be travelling on alone, and you will all be heading back to the city. I will not be putting any of you in danger,” she said firmly.

“As you say Elder,” Naiho said, bowing to Kalikke and Lapis in turn. “Come on you two, let’s see if three tail swinging buffoons can find employment in the new city.”

They hurried back down the path, Lapis frowning after them until they vanished around a corner.

“Did you actually need me? Or am I an excuse to protect your friends?”

“Oh no, I need you,” Kalikke reassured him quickly. “Tevi, Naiho, and Elki- the Sweet Teeth- found this place and told me about it. They’re nigh inseparable, but even they couldn’t get far into the ruins. There’s too many monsters ahead, slime monsters, from what they told me. I’m just glad they haven’t abandoned me. They think Kanerah died, and I took a new name to protect myself, but they knew both of us well, so I try not to meet them too often. They could easily uncover the truth, and that would negate the All Seeing Eye’s first rule.”

“Do you have a plan then?” Lapis asked.

“There must be a cliff up to that tower over there,” Kalikke said, pointing to a ruined tower in the distance. “My hope is that there is still something that remains within.”

Lapis nodded his understanding, stringing the shortbow on his back. Dipping one of his arrow in the constant acid that dripped over the grip, he frowned slightly.

“Do you think slime monsters can be killed by acid?”

“Only one way to find out,” Kalikke chuckled, motioning for the amurrun to lead the way.

Lapis held up a hand for her to wait, channeling his energy into a series of defensive spells to protect Khemet. They wouldn’t last long, but they would at least keep the tiger safe for a few minutes.

“Okay, let’s go,” he murmured, Khemet darting forward with a grunt.

They followed the path forward, Kalikke throwing bolts of ice from her body that pinned several strange frog-like beasts down as Lapis ended them with arrows.

Chipping off a bit of tarrish slime from his leg as the last frog dropped, Lapis frowned at Kalikke.

“My companion Faes has a similar ability to yours. He can use fire,” the amurrun said.

“Oh? Like Kanerah,” Kalikke frowned. “It is… uncommon, but it is a very useful ability at times.”

Freeing himself from the slime, Lapis motioned toward a strange circle of fire, a trio of water elementals sitting inside the burning ring.

“Who would trap elementals here?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Perhaps someone took offense to the Taldan miners living here? But why would they leave the elementals behind?” Kalikke frowned. “I think I can free them. The fire… it’s connected to these pillars.”

She motioned toward a series of six burning pillars around the ring, ice shooting out one by one until only a single flame remained.

“Wait,” Lapis frowned. “What if they decided to flood the mine, but were trapped here by the survivors so they couldn’t hurt anyone else?”

“I can feel them,” the tiefling said. “They’re angry at the ones who trapped them, but all they want is freedom. The ones who trapped them cannot be living any longer. They were summoned… and then trapped, But why? The past holds so many secrets that will never be answered.”

She sighed quietly, gathering her energy for one last strike on the fire.

“If we release them-”

“They will not attack us,” she said reassuringly. “They only wish to escape their bonds.”

“I’m not sure about this,” Lapis frowned.

“Of course not, you’re a cat and they’re creatures made of water,” Kalikke said with a wry smirk.

The last flame died in a shower of ice, the ring of fire vanishing as the last linchpin fell. The elementals seemed to freeze, as though distrustful of their newfound freedom. A tendril of water touched Kalikke, caressing her face as a strange noise filled the air. Then the elementals slowly flowed away toward the river beyond, where they rejoined their element.

“Danger ahead…” Kalikke frowned. “And they gave me a name, or a call? Payment for their freedom?”

“Useful… but let’s try not to need it,” Lapis shivered.

The trio followed the river to a waterfall, a slippery cliff sitting next to the spray.

“Up there!” Kalikke pointed. “A dangerous climb, but no more so than the ones I used to do with Kanerah. She would always get so angry when I was faster…”

“I’ll go first,” Lapis said with a small frown. “Can you make a harness around Khemet’s chest? He’s not going to like it, but there is no way I’m leaving him behind.”

“Of course,” Kalikke smiled. “He’s just a big kitty with big paws. I’m sure we can come to an understanding.”

Kneeling beside the tiger, Lapis murmured in his ear, Khemet grumbling loudly before yawning. Long, sharp teeth flashed in the dying light of day, Lapis tussling the larger cat’s fur slightly before pulling a coil of rope over his shoulder.

Hand over hand, the amurrun climbed through the slippery mist of the waterfall, each step carefully placed. Clambering over the top of the cliff, he took a deep breath, recovering his courage, before uncoiling the rope.

Minutes later, the other two were at his side, Kalikke looking out over the falls with awe in her eyes.

“So beautiful… I can see why the Taldans settled here. I would live here too,” she beamed. “The cliffs seem perfectly suited to the falls… and there’s even a cave right behind it!”

She hurried toward the cave, Lapis frowning as he followed her closely. Khemet brought up the rear, the tiger jumping in every puddle of water he found, his fur soaked nearly completely through.

Within the cave, they found several centipedes, the insects nearly as big as Khemet’s tail. The tiger took their size as a clear invitation for lunch, Lapis and Kalikke holding off the other insects as Khemet gorged himself on the stringy meat within their exoskeletons. It was gruesome to watch, but Lapis was happy the tiger was able to enjoy a nice dinner as they explored the cave.

“This is the mine, isn’t it?” he asked, a magical light appearing on an arrow he held up.

The glow shone off copper veins in the stone around them, the amurrun realizing this was just the kind of thing Faes would love to find, a place where he could get people to make him money.

The chittering of more centipedes reached them, Lapis’ eyes widening in horror as he came face to face with a pair of centipedes that were near twice the size of Khemet. A dozen smaller centipedes followed, still nearly as big as the large cat. Lapis let out an expletive in Osiriani, scrambling back as Khemet lunged past him with a hungry growl.

Calling upon Bastet’s fury, Lapis winced as his chest heated up, an old brand bubbling with power that suddenly coursed from his fingers in a single bolt of flame. The fire bounced from centipede to centipede, leaving smoking remains of charred shells behind. Khemet snarled as he ripped the head off one of the larger centipedes, gooey viscera sliding down his throat as he enjoyed the grisly meal.

“I think I’m going to be sick…” Kalikke muttered, hurrying past the feeding tiger.

“Just give him a few minutes to clean up. He’s a hungry boy,” Lapis shrugged, following her through the gloom.

They approached a caved-in section, Lapis frowning at the fallen rocks and beams.

“This isn’t too messy,” Kalikke said, grabbing for a rock. “I could have it cleared in a few minutes.”

“Wait, let me help,” Lapis said, setting his bow back in his quiver.

A pair of quick prayers settled over the tiefling, Kalikke’s eyes narrowing as she found better rocks to grab, moving nearly the entire barrier in a matter of minutes. Lapis hung back as she finished, the priest’s job finished as soon as the prayers were offered.

Soon enough, moonlight shone through the opening, the mine free once more. Lapis made a mental note to discuss it with Faes; he was pretty sure the half-drow would want to restore it to help the barony. As long as it also helped Faes himself. The kineticist was weird like that.

Kalikke let out a sudden gasp as she emerged from the mine, Khemet joining Lapis as the tiger licked his lips.

“The tower… it’s destroyed…” the tiefling said, staring up at the demolished stone. “There’s nothing left in there…”

Moving toward another cliff edge, she stared down at the desolation below, the cats following silently. A giant gargoyle sat in a pile of treasures, a gleaming disk prominent among them.

“It’s still here…” Kalikke breathed. “But… that gargoyle…”

“It isn’t a gargoyle…” Lapis frowned, looking at a strange growth between its wings, almost like a bush growing from the beast.

“Come, we can get the disk-”

The tiefling’s eyes widened as a glow enveloped her, stumbling back into the portal as another tiefling emerged. Fiery orange eyes observed the cats warily, the tiefling smiling suddenly.

“Well my friends, shall we get going? We have so much to do!”

“You must be Kanerah,” Lapis said. “I’m Lapis. We didn’t really get the chance to meet properly before.”

The tiefling’s eyes widened in terror, before flashing anger took over. Her tail snapped viciously behind her, Kanerah letting out a low growl.

“Let me guess, my sweet sister couldn’t keep her mouth shut. Well, it was going to happen eventually, but at least I wasn’t the one to disobey our god,” she snapped.

Lapis took a step back from the force of her anger, shaking his head to clear it. Kanerah took a moment to examine her surroundings, glancing at Lapis with a small scowl.

“Tell me, we met briefly in a nice warm home, and now I find us sitting at the top of a cliff, surrounded by slimy toads and the gods know what else, with a hungry tiger at my back. I don’t know whether to ask why, or how?”

“Kalikke asked me to help her find the Disk of the Eclipse. A baron is supposed to help the people in his lands, right?” Lapis frowned.

“Right…” Kanerah said slowly. “So tell me this. Why exactly are we here? If you’re a baron, shouldn’t you have sent your servants to fetch the Disk while staying safely back in your city? And how are you the baron anyway? Cassiel was the one who was given the title by Jamandi.”

“There is… a lot to discuss,” Lapis sighed. “I’m not going to send people into danger that I wouldn’t willingly expose myself to. Kalikke already told me about her secret; wouldn’t it only make things worse if I sent a guard and they found out about you two? Besides, I’m not really the baron, Faes is. He just wants me to be his face.”

Kanerah chuckled quietly, shaking her head.

“Well, an adventure it is then. It’s not like I couldn’t get out of this easily enough. But it looks like that gargoyle down there has stolen our prize. I don’t suppose you and my sister have come up with a plan around that, hmm?”

“Fire,” Lapis shrugged. “It’s not a gargoyle. I think it’s actually a strange plant of some sort. Kalikke said you were like Faes, you could use fire. So maybe we can take it together.”

“Well, I’ve heard worse plans, I suppose. Lead the way.”

Lapis studied the lip of the cliff, finding a crumbled aqueduct that would allow them to slide down. He pushed Khemet toward it, the tiger resisting briefly before the amurrun knocked them both down the slide. He heard Kanerah following a moment later, the three picking themselves up safely at the base. There was a sudden roar, and the gargoyle turned toward them, Lapis raising his finger as he sent another bolt of fire from his body.

The flames joined with Kanerah’s blast, the gargoyle falling in a burning mess as their attacks fed off each other, and Kanerah glanced at Lapis with a new respect in her eyes.

“Well well, the baron has a bit of fire himself,” she smirked. “Let’s see what we can do with the Disk.”

They turned toward the large artifact, Lapis frowning as he cast a detection spell on it. A powerful aura surrounded it, but it didn’t seem to be coming from the disk itself.

“Kanerah, I think someone tampered with the disk,” Lapis frowned, the tiefling staring at him impassively as she waited for him to finish his inspection.

“So someone was here, with the Disk and all these treasures, but didn’t take any of it? Seems counterproductive. But we aren’t using the Disk here; I want to study it back at the capital.”

“Well we came here for you and Kalikke. The disk is yours to do what you wish with,” Lapis shrugged, stepping back.

The tiefling stared at the disk hungrily, reaching for the artifact. As her fingers touched the disk, glowing alternately with the light of the sun and the moon, a brilliant glow struck, blinding Lapis.

He blinked rapidly, looking at his feet as he waited for the spots in his eyes to clear. Images flashed before his eyes, voices whispering in a strange tongue that seemed connected to the pictures before him, as though the images themselves were the words. Just as suddenly as it started, the images stopped, Kanerah standing in a shrinking darkness as a portal faded. The Disk of the Eclipse was nowhere in sight.

“Are you all right?” the amurrun asked nervously.

“What…?”

Kanerah shook her head slowly, tilted slightly as though she was listening to something.

“Fascinating… the Disk didn’t disappear… it’s like a part of me… and I know how to use it,” she said excitedly.

A portal appeared, the tiefling stepping through, and suddenly Kalikke was staring at Lapis with astonished blue eyes.

“Lapis? What happened? I was sleeping and then… I heard Kanerah’s voice? I wasn’t pulled out like usual…”

“We got the disk. Well, Kanerah got the disk, but she said it became part of her,” the amurrun said.

“So… what I heard was the disk?”

Kalikke’s eyes closed, her face a study in concentration. A minute later, her hand twitched, and a grin spread across her face.

“Yes… I think I get it…”

Another portal, Kanerah taking Kalikke’s place, and Lapis blinked, trying his best to keep track of their eyes, the only way he had of telling them apart.

“Sorrowflow still? I’m surprised Kalikke figured it out so fast,” Kanerah smirked. “I’m going to switch us again, just to be sure. And you be sure to tell her she’s a foolish goat for me.”

Lapis blinked, missing the next portal, but he didn’t miss the twinkling blue eyes of Kalikke staring at him with near giddy joy.

“I heard her calling again… I haven’t heard her voice in years…” the tiefling breathed.

“Your sister… asked me to tell you she misses you very much,” Lapis said.

Kalikke chuckled ruefully.

“I highly doubt that is what she said, but thanks for trying to make me feel better,” she said. “Oh this is wonderful… but now we must decide how to share our time. I can already imagine the headaches that are to follow, but I don’t care. We can control Nethys’ gift now. I wonder, were we meant to find this artifact all along?”

“The gods work in strange ways sometimes,” Lapis replied, a finger tracing the blackened outline of an ankh on his chest. “But this seems to be for the better all around.

“Well, if a foreign outcast’s gratitude means anything to you, perhaps we can remain in your lands and aid you on your quests,” Kalikke offered. “I’m sure Kanerah would love to help you grow your barony to the best it can be.”

“I would appreciate that, though I will have to ask Faes, of course. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind someone picking up part of the work though,” Lapis smiled. “But I need to get going. I’m supposed to meet with my companions at the trading post, and I would rather not spend the night outside.”

“Of course,” Kalikke beamed. “Safe travels to you Lapis. And many thanks as well.”