Silver & Wine

Chapter Eight: Speaking With The Dead

—chapter eight: speaking with the dead

Aemry crawled out of her tent and stretched. Her eyes were pinched shut because of how bright it was, but when she opened them she saw the entire party staring her. She flinched, not expecting to have so many eyes on her first thing in the morning.

"Good morrow," she greeted.

"We need to talk," said Tav. "Take a seat."

     "All right . . ." Aemry said, cautiously. "What about?"

     "How did you end up in the care of Druids from the Circle of the Shepherd?" Gale asked.

     Aemry sighed. "I don't know. I remember walking in the forest and setting off a trap. Blew me right off my feet, knocked me out cold. Who knows how long I was out for? Then suddenly, there are voices in my head telling me to avenge Draya, whoever that is. They also said I have to speak with the night crawler in the tomb, whatever that means," she explained, exasperated.

     "That's what we were told too," said Astarion.

     "Could they have been more vague?" Shadowheart scowled, sarcasm dripping off her tongue.

     "Although," Aemry began, humming in thought. "My grandfather was a renowned creature of the night. He longed for the night sky like the sun longs for the moon. His favourite pass-time was stargazing with me, because I was the only person with the patience to accompany him."

     "Where is he buried?" Tav asked, intrigued.

     "In the noble mausoleum, just like the rest of my family members before me," explained Aemry.

"Then that is where we shall go," Tav insisted, standing. "Shadowheart, Lae'zel, Wyll and I will escort you."

Astarion whined. "Must I really stay behind? I want to go creeping around in the noble mausoleum too!"

"Chk. If you are so fond of all dead things encased in tombs, perhaps we should have put you in one. Had we done that instead of chasing the jewellery of a pompous High Elf, comparable to yourself, we would not have the unnecessary baggage," Lae'zel sneered, referring to Aemry.

Aemry's eyes went wide. She looked between the other party members to see how they would react to Lae'zel being so brash towards Astarion, but no one was affected. In fact, they all ignored Lae'zel, as if her outlandish words were something they were all used to hearing. Even Astarion seemed unbothered by it, and he was the target.

"You'd miss me too much," Astarion taunted Lae'zel, who scoffed at him in response.

"Let's move," Tav called, rallying the group together.

"How will Shadowheart, Wyll and Lae'zel stay hidden?" Aemry asked aloud.

     "Shadowheart and Wyll can cast Invisibility, and they can extend it to Lae'zel. So long as they stay concentrated, they'll be able to hide themselves and Lae'zel the entire way to the mausoleum," explained Tav, altering her own appearance to a male Tiefling. "So I'll make sure nothing gets in their way."

     Aemry covered her head with her hood. The group spoke quietly between each other as they journeyed to Baldurs Gate, something they wouldn't be able to do much of once they were inside the city. The last thing they needed was Aemry and Tav getting arrested by guards for looking crazy.