Aleksei had been right- in a few more hours, the Dragonborn camp was completely destroyed. The soldiers of the territory that had been plagued with raids for so long had no mercy at all, now that the tables were turned. Not a single creature- male, female, young or old- was spared. They would even have turned on their kobold allies, had Aleksei not stepped in to remind them that the kobolds had nothing to do with the cult that had taken root and flourished for so long. They were allowed to return to what was left of their mountain in peace. A few seemed more than a little sorry to be taking their leave of Aleksei for the second time, a fact that I heard a few of the soldiers comment upon. Like an indulgent big brother, Aleksei patted a few on the head and awarded a few trinkets to others. He seemed especially proud of a quaking young female, handing her a bow that had wicked talons on both ends. He showed her briefly how she would use the talons to scrape and stab someone who had come too close to her to allow being shot at.
"I wonder if he's got a daughter," a female soldier said to another with quiet admiration, leaning on the hilt of her sword.
"I wonder if he's got a daughter what's yet alive," the second soldier replied, and a hum of thought arose from both of them. Not having considered the possibility myself, I began to think about it as well. It seemed that Aleksei would be quite at home training a son or counseling a daughter. I wondered what type of woman he would like to breed with- would she be meek and coy, or perhaps robust and dominating? And then, like the second soldier, I began to wonder if that were a chapter long closed for him- sealed, perhaps, in blood. And then I felt quite embarrassed for having begun to think of such personal details at all.
When the kobolds had all gone, the bodies had all been piled up and burned and the tents had all been taken down, the Hall of Horns alone stood with a great gaping hole where someone had smashed through. The shrine to Tiamat was left as it was, aside from all the gold and Mikhail's remains being removed, but the Hall of Horns, a more visible reminder of the bandit cultists, was different. Soldiers circled it, wondering what should be done with it. Oddly enough, they did not seem to want to further desecrate it, but the Humans who had been freed from Mikhail's rule thought differently. Once given approval from the soldiers and Aleksei, they rushed at it with war hammers, axes and even stones, if that was all they could get their hands on. With whoops and hollers of joy and revenge, the Hall was torn down. Even those who accidentally injured themselves trying to smash through bore their new wounds with pride, refusing healing spells, which would nix the possibility of scarring. Instead, they tore rags from their dead foes, staunching the blood and treating their wounds without magic- and oddly enough, a few of them reached out to Aleksei, wanting to take care of the gash that they feared would become infected without treatment.
"I am not one of your people," he replied. There was no superiority in his voice, but something near embarrassment, and a trace of sorrow.
"You bleed just the same, Two-Tone," a young Human male replied with a shrug. "And you've just done with fightin' for us. Can't rightly leave you bleedin', can we then?"
A few Humans had turned around, and cheered at these words, encouraging Aleksei- or Two-Tone, as he'd come to be called in the camp- to sit down and trust his wound to them. Instead of sitting down, Aleksei laid down his talon kilij with me, walked calmly over to the Human women and men who were waiting, and knelt before them. As they worked, the soldiers from farther down on the peninsula- the Aglarond Peninsula, as I was made to understand it by one glowingly proud half-Elf- gathered themselves together to march back home.
"You must leave this place as we agreed," the Elven leader of the band told Aleksei sternly after he'd received as much medical work as the Humans could do. It seemed like a unique challenge for them to have to clean underneath the scales that surrounded the wound in addition to the wound itself.
"I will- as soon as I find the Tiefling and the Drow that are traveling with me. All four of us are trying to pass through this land in peace, when Mikhail is stopping us," Aleksei replied.
"Would either of them have left the area without you?" came the biting question, wielded without a shade of pity or concern.
"The Drow I cannot be sure of, but the Tiefling would be having great cause to remain close by," Aleksei smirked, looking over to me. I could feel a warmth rising into my cheeks, and wished that some tent were available to duck behind.
"Men," the leader said without delay, "Get into your shield groupings and spread out. I want a five mile search made from this spot. If you find a Tiefling female, arrest her and bring her back to me here at once. You have about seven hours of daylight left, now go!" And in sets of four or five, the soldiers set off in all directions. "If they return without her, you will still be expected to leave," the leader said in a leaden tone, not even looking back at Aleksei to give this news.
"Of course," Aleksei replied in a tone that edged unhealthily close to sarcasm. "And the Humans here?"
"Are now refugees, and will be sent to Findar." After a wise sigh, the Elf added, "It will be easier for them there than in Furthinghome. But you don't worry about that. I'll see to it that everyone here is treated fairly, put in some settlement that will help them get over all this. You just look to yourself, and pray to whatever gods you have that we find your Tiefling."
And we did. I sat with the Human females, making a proper dress out of the green fabric I'd found on the dead soldiers, and Aleksei searched through the piled Dragonborn belongings until he found two daggers to replace my long-gone katars. He admitted that he could only sharpen the daggers, so once he'd finished with that, he took up his kilij and invited me to spar with him. The leader of the soldiers did not seem to mind, and stood aside with the Humans to see how I would fare against this male who was much larger than I. With a smirk, I backed up a few paces and crouched down, both daggers at the ready.
"I am for you, master," I nodded quietly.
"Do not pity the lost eye," Aleksei warned.
I had thought that he would be a slower fighter, given the use of a two-handed weapon, but he was quick to parry and even quicker to use my own fleet-footed momentum against me. I can't count how many times I went flying over his shoulder before I realized that I could not advance against him the same way I did with Mi'ishaen. And while Mi'ishaen had been quick to pour all her energy into her movements from the very first, Aleksei seemed to have a steady energy that could grow exponentially whenever he wanted it to, going from merely blocking and moving me around to actively attacking me with great force. Those watching us focused on us, shouting out advice about our footing and our advances. We were all so engrossed in what we were doing that a genuine shriek of terror was at first met with little attention.
"We've found them, oh gods! We found them!" a Human soldier cried, breathless and horrified, nearly flinging himself against Aleksei. "The female had a dagger in Luke's throat before either of us could offer terms of peace, but- Pelor protect me- that male! That male stretched out his hand, and Luke got up. He got up and started walking to me, weapon drawn, with the dagger still in his throat!"
"Calm yourself, lad, calm down," one of the Human females that had been watching us counseled. "You've found Ivan, is all. He's nice enough, but some god of death- the Raven Queen, Vecna, some one of that lot- just adores him. The gods will choose whom they will choose, whether we like it or not; it's not his fault."
And down the hill toward the banks where we stood came Mi'ishaen and Ivan, accompanied by two living soldiers and one wrapped in glowing necromantic energy with a gaping hole in his throat.
"Be at peace," Ivan smiled, his sightless gaze staring over my shoulder. There was a difference to him, but I had little time to note it.
"What are we under arrest for?" Mi'ishaen charged irritably, as though she'd asked at least twice before.
"You are all expected to leave this place, per an agreement made by this male to spare your lives," the leader of the soldiers claimed, taking a closer look at his reanimated soldier. "Please, stop this, won't you?"
Ivan shrugged, and the soldier collapsed into a pile of dust that was as black as a moonless night.
"As I was saying," the Elf continued, clearly disturbed, "you are expected to leave at once. Off with you to the docks. We'll be sure to give you what food and water you will need for the journey, and then we'll put you off on the next boat off of the peninsula."
"Going in what direction?" Mi'ishaen crabbed. "You don't intend to send us to the Pirate Isles, do you?"
"Have a bit more faith in us," the leader smiled grimly. "We'll get you past those- and you're welcome. The pirates daren't attack our ships, or they'll be captured, brought back to Veltalar for a circus of a trial, and put to death."
"I feel much safer now," Mi'ishaen replied sullenly. "Now where are we going?"
"Off Aglarond, on the first boat out, I can promise you," the leader replied. "Other than that? Well, your friend there does seem to be on friendly terms with Vecna."
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