[While on a rescue mission gone crazed, a holy warrior and a rogue fight bandits, demons, and the urge to rip each other's clothes off.]
The mission, rescuing a princess, could be going better.
Séa is an earnest paladin, honest and gullible. Tash is...
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Morning came, eventually. In the absence of a body, Ghomarck entirely failed to place the blame for the destruction where it belonged. Sadly, he doled out coins into the waiting palm of the innkeeper.
"Goodbye and good riddance," grumbled the thickset proprietor.
They mounted their horses and steered them north.
"And don't come back," the innkeeper told their retreating backs. "Have your wild parties in somebody else's inn."
Past the cemetery, they turned north into trackless territory. Séa gazed at the steepening terrain. Bushy scrub would shortly give way to pine and fir trees. However pleasant it might be, the view did not compete with the excitement of the previous night. The paladin marveled, "Nothing of the door survived but the hinges and a pile of wood rot. It all dissolved. I don't even remember her casting an acid spell. Maybe she let it fly when I attempted that knee-level tackle."
"Good luck's the best," said Tash from behind her.
Bayrump had taken an elitist dislike to the steep terrain and fell behind the scrawny gelding. So far, Torugg be praised, the big mare's grumpy attitude had not worsened to balkiness.
Séa said, "Luck? I've never been a believer in luck."
"What? Blasphemy!" Tash wailed. "There has to be luck. It's part of the fabric of the universe."
"Really? I mean, I barely kept my head above water in theology class, but I don't remember Father Kay mentioning luck."
"Well, how do you explain hot streaks at the dice table? And sometimes the clearly inferior athlete wins. Oh, and how do you explain last night? That succubus was whisper-quiet, and you were deep asleep. But somehow you woke up just in time."
Séa hummed to herself for a minute. Past lessons in theology, discipline, and ethics replayed in her mind. Eventually, she answered. "I trust my god, Tash. I think Torugg watches over me. The thought-provoking part is that I was just in time to save you from being skewered. I assume you, uh, aren't exactly religious."
The rogue tittered.
Séa snorted. "I'll take that as a 'yes.' So presumably, you have no special consideration from Torugg. He would love you the same as he loves every common person."
"Hey! I'm uncommon, not common."
"Oh, definitely. I've never met anybody like you. But bear with me. I'm trying to figure this out. Renna was incredible." Séa fanned herself. Encased in metal as she was, the flapping hand had no hope of cooling her face. "I was spent by the end. And if she was a succubus, which she was, then she drained me even more. She laid me low, then pushed me deeper. But even from the bottom of that deep well, I heard something, or felt something. It was like an alarm bell, inside. I woke up."
"Meh. It was good luck."
"Or a touch of divine guidance."
Tash said, "I wish I could see your face. You're serious?"
