DG-SoH: Bk 1 - Part 2 - Chapter 8f

Yahim, ever vigilant, was the only one to notice the subtle and momentary change in her expression as Silfaya caught site of the axe now carried by Coren. Yahim saw a fleeting wave of resigned sadness pass across the older woman's eyes before it left her.

"Please," she said. "Follow me." She then turned and went into the house.

Coren's puzzled gaze passed from Silfaya, to her husband and then to their daughters before settling back upon the old woman. "How...?" he muttered to himself, wondering about the differences in biology between the woman and the waterbeing. However, it was not a polite question to ask even in the best of circumstances. Though Tob might have made some crude joke about it, he thought.

"I wonder if those fungi in the caves have hallucinatory spores?" Janus wondered. Shaking off that thought, as he watched Syfalya enter the shack, he turned back to face Wnddyar. "Will you be joining us?" He asked, not sure how the big guy-ser was going to fit inside.

Wnddyar shook his head and slowly sank beneath the surface until he was no longer visible. The three girls swam farther out until they emerged by some rocks on the opposite shore. They climbed out and reclined against the rocks, seemingly oblivious, now, to the group on the other side of the lake.

Janus furrowed his brow, as Wnyddyar turned and began to fade into the surface of the lake. A once in a lifetime opportunity had just turned away from him.

He glanced at the Daughters of Wnddyar, then the small water lilly like plants that waved their thin, green, stalks out over the surface of the water, bending and dipping now and then as if drinking. The ripples from their motions attracting a lot of active, and very tiny minnows from the depths. A once in a lifetime opportunity.

"It was nice talking to you, too." He said to the bubbling depths.

Li-eira approached Janus after the water spirits left, and took his hand in hers. "What a curious place." She commented in her quiet voice as she tugged him lightly towards the cabin. "It's a beautiful respite from the catacombs."

Janus looked away from the surface of the lake, and his blue eyes lit, his regretful look turning into smile at seeing Li-eira. His fingers held her hand tightly, and laced with hers, his arm pulled by her tugging. He did not move though till he was finished speaking. "It would be nice to sit here in the suns-shines with my feet out of these boots, and soaking in that lake, or curled into the grass. Talking with you and my friends, and that Wnddyar, and his daughters."

A happy sigh escaped Li at the thought and she gave him a bright smile. It was easy to forget the darkness here, to feel protected from it. "Once we finish our quest, maybe there will be more time for those pleasant things."

Li-eira continued to pull him along as her voice turned a bit more teasing. "...although, without Wnddyar and his daughters would suit me better."

Janus gave Li-eira a playful look, the exact same look he he'd stifled when his eyes first met hers in the Dark Inn in Per so long go. Then she had been a stranger, a powerful, beautiful, and exotic sorceress. Things were different now, and Janus realized just how long it had been since he had given any woman that look. "See? That kind of thinking is exactly why I adore you." He said with a grin, following her into the shack.

Coren saw Li-eira and Janus head off towards the cabin and so followed on behind.

"So, I'm guessing we trust this Silfaya?" he asked them. Still, he knew this was the only way they were going to get some answers.

Janus replied, a somewhat detatched tone to his voice. "Trust her? As usual, we have no choice. I say we have some drink, eat some warm food, and listen to what she has to tell us, then decide. If she wanted to kill us, I don't think she would invite us inside first."

"Quite a mess to clean up afterward," Yahim nodded, agreeing with Janus and following them into the cabin.

Aislinn nodded quietly. The priestess had felt the gamut of emotions in the last few minutes, from hysterical giggles to frustrated anger to gentle happiness. "It's as Janus said, Coren," she said with a sigh. "Might as well go along with it and see what crops up next. Might end up being the best information we can get right now." She linked her arm with the big northman's and smiled up at him. A smile that didn't erase the concern in her blue eyes. "Let's go see what she has to say."

"Aye. Of course" replied Coren, gladly accepting Aislinn's arm. "I was just taking a leaf out of Yahim's book an' bein' cautious, that was all". He let his beautiful and caring friend lead him into the cabin whilst muttering something about still being wary even if they were in dreamland.

Silfaya led then into the comfortably appointed room of the cottage. Surprisingly, she didn't make any indication of the axe at Coren's side that used to be over the mantle. She pointed to the various chairs, cushions, and rugs for them to take their rest and excused herself for one moment. She returned with a large tray of breads, fruit spreads, and cheeses. She left and then returned with a couple decanters of water and wine. She then took her seat.

"I know some of you are probably on edge and not trusting of my intentions. I can't same I blame you. One of you," she continued, "though I know not which, is a druid of Dryg-Gwra. You should have the power to make certain that none of this is poisoned or tainted. In case that does not satisfy the cautious nature for some of you, please let me know what it is you would like me to sample."

With a snort of a sound that might have been laughter but for the bitter taste it left in his mouth, Yahim reached for a goblet and poured himself some wine, offering to pour for the others with lifted eyebrows before he replaced it. Aislinn accepted, holding out a goblet with a smile. She certainly looked as if she could use the drink. Licking his dry lips, Coren also gladly accepted a drink - even if it was wine.

"My good woman, if indeed you are a human woman, you cannot possibly realize how irrelevant that is. We either die or we do not; if not by poisoned food then perhaps drowning, or the roof of this cabin caving in, or even choking on a bite of cheese."

He drank deeply, then shrugged. "Poison is certainly a less messy way to die than by knife or sword, but either way, if we are not meant to die here, then nothing you or I do or say will change that. I believe you had some information for us?"

Silfaya visibly winced at Yahim's sharp words.

"I deeply apologize to you, good sir", as she regained herself and began to slice some of the fruits and cheeses "if my statement offended or angered you in any way. It was merely meant to try and get past what I had believed would be of natural concern to some of you."

The woman, with some obvious degree of refinement, poured wine and water for all. "I do have a bit of 'information' as you put it concerning where you have arrived. I had been hoping for a little pleasant conversation with people from my home world before moving on to the less pleasant reasons for your being here. It would seem," however, "that is not to be."

Janus accepted the wine from Yahim with a smile, though he had been hoping for something a little stronger. "We are weary, and knocked a bit off of our pins." He said as he settled next to Li eira on a giant cushion. "It's hard to know who wants to talk, and who doesn't. So, what would you like to talk about? I hear the women in Portsdale have taken to wearing broad brimmed hats this season." He hadn't herd that... he had heard no news of Derugar since he left his home, but it seemed like something a woman far from home might want to know about.

Aislinn couldn't help herself. She opened her mouth to respond to the woman, but Janus, her friend and spiritual brother beat her to it. At first, a giggle escaped her. She covered her mouth with her hand, trying to not offend her hostess by seemingly laughing in her face. That wasn't the reason the priestess laughed. It all seemed just so ludicrous on some level. The giggle blossomed into full-throated laughter she couldn't contain and ended up leaning against Yahim with tears running from her eyes. After a moment, she regained most of her composure.

"Forgive me," she said finally. "But it is as Janus said. We are on a mission of some importance and inadvertently coming here was very much a surprise. Then meeting with your husband and all... it seems more and more as if this were all a dream and soon I'll wake in my bed in my mother's house." A sadness crept into her eyes at the last. "Well, part of me keeps hoping it's a dream and I'll do such, I will admit."

The glisten of tears that began to show in Silfaya's eyes threatened to overcome her, but she exhaled slightly and began smoothing her gown to regain her composure. "Of course," she said as she rose. "Then let me not keep you from this mission whatever it may be." She began to walk around around the room and look at various objects as if trying to memorize them.

Any remaining laughter ebbed from Aislinn. For a second, she started feeling guilty, but then shook off that feeling. Gracefully, she stood and placed a slender hand on the woman's arm. "Lady Silfaya," she said carefully and quietly. "You've intimated you've been away from home a long time. We're a very confused bunch of people. No real idea how or why we're here except that it has something to do with this cottage. We only know that we do need to return. We've no idea how much time has passed in the short time we've been here. We could have already been gone days... or no time at all," she sighed and shook her head.

"If meeting you is part of the Stormherald Prophecy, then please say so, now and we will gladly sit down and discuss anything you like. If not, then I must truly beg your forgiveness and forbearance, but we have Tech-Loch snapping at our heels with the Lord of Lies right beside him. Surely with that information, you can understand our need for haste? It is no reflection on you. But if you truly miss home that much, I don't see why you couldn't come with us when we leave."

Silfaya looked at Aislinn with questions in her eyes. "I know not who Tech-Loch is, nor what this prophecy is that you speak about. The things you and Janus spake of are strange to me. But to answer your question. Do I know why you are here? Only in so much as I know what happens when the axe's owner comes to claim his birthright. And I will be leaving when you leave.

Stopping halfway through a healthy glug of wine, Coren put down his goblet and glanced at the axe and then towards the now-empty spot on the wall. "Aye, well..." he mumbled after swallowing the sweet wine. "I was going to... ask about that".

He reached down and lifted the war-axe to get a better look at it, his rough hands almost caressing the grip as he did.

"This is Fjiggorn, which once belonged to my great-grandfather, Balfor. His father's name, Ifus, is etched here upon the blade. Stories have been sung by the bards of Northreach about this axe for years but no one knew what had become of it".

He paused for a moment in his explanation before addressing the woman further.

"Do you know how such a mighty weapon came to be here? Why it was hung on yonder wall in your home? And what happens when its owner comes to claim it?"

Silfaya listened as Coren told of his lineage. "Great great grandfather?" she asked. "I had forgotten how time passes. Fjiggorn was brought here. It was given to me by Ifus to keep safe, and I am the one that hung it upon the wall." Silfaya's eyes grew distant as if she was seeing a memory. She then continued, as if she had to tear herself back to the present, as she responded to Coren's last question. "There is something one of you has come to do. I can only guess, now, that it is because of this Tech-Loch you spake of and this important mission. Once done, I shall leave."

"You met Ifus?!?" Coren muttered incredulously. "How...?" He shook his head in disbelief. Ifus lived hundreds of years ago and yet this woman looked only fifty. She couldn't have met his ancestor. Then again, they couldn't have travelled to another world, could they? Damned magic, thought Coren, not for the first time, as he groaned to himself.

"What happens when Coren leaves with the axe? Will it affect this world?" Li-eira inquired.

"And what, or where, is this world?" Coren added, throwing his arms wide to encompass the cabin, the lake, the forest and everything they'd seen.

OOC: If I've messed up the name of the prophecy, please fix. :)

GM OOC: You did wonderful!!!