The Innkeeper's Wife

[Silvarn]

Silvarn waited for the most opportune moment. The guardsmen were out, Lyndi was safe. That just left the old ones for him to deal with. "How fitting." he muttered sarcastically. His fists flared with bright gold light and his observers had just enough time to catch him cry "Thunderclap ru..." before he vanished from their view.

It was over in a moment. Silvarn dashed at the two elders who responded with the reaction time of snails. The lady his knocked into carriage with a backsweep of his glowing fist, while at the same time shattering the old man's firing elbow. He then grabbed the crossbow from the old man and pivoted on one foot, using a powerful kick to send him smashing into his wife.

The next anyone saw of Silvarn, he was standing in front of the two old phonies. The old man did not really register Silvarn's presence, though. He was too preoccupied with watching the sweat on his forehead wet the tip of a crossbow bolt.

[jada]

Jada watched in pure fasination. It had all happened so fast. Silvarn had literaly become invisible to the human eye. He moved so fast! The old couple was smashed into the carrige by the unseen silvarn. He only appeared when he stopped. Jada couldn't move, she just stood in her spot next to Kerodi and gaped quietly at the scene before her.

(Sorry I know it wasn't very long. I have a head ach =P )

[HoudiniDerek]

"Impressive work, Silvarn," Kerodi said. "For a moment I thought you were just there to watch." Kerodi winked and walked over to the upturned carriage. Marisol was struggling to a sitting position.

Kerodi squatted down in front of her and smiled happily. "Going for a little ride?"

"You have no idea what you have done," she rasped, some blood coming from the corner of her mouth where she had taken a hit. "You....fools!"

Kerodi turned to Silvarn who was holding the old man at arrow-point. "Why don't you take that gentelman off the path somewhere and question him while Lyndi and I ask Marisol more about her little excursion." Kerodi winked at Silvarn and turned back to Marisol.

"I have nothing to say to you," Marisol spit with rage.

"Not yet, but after some gentle persuasion," and here Kerodi opened a pouch on his waist and pulled out a small vial of something cyan blue, "you might."

[Silvarn]

"Gladly," Silvarn said with a nasty smile on his face. The old man whimpered like a naughty pup as Silvarn hefted him bodily by his shirt neck and hauled him off to the side.

Bark splintered as the old man was crushed against a sturdy rowen tree. "Now then, you fake." Silvarn spat in the old one's face. "If you want to keep your body intact, start talking."

"I...I can't..." the old one sobbed.

"Trust me, what my friend can do is definitely more frightening than whatever the person you are working for can do."

"No, it's...you broke me arm...It hurts so much." the elder whined.

"Fine." Silvarn slapped him with a shimmering green palm. Instantly, the pain from the old man's face melted away, replaced with a very relaxed, somewhat sleepy look.

"Thank you. Now, what do ye want?"

"Who put you up to this?"

"Me wife was dyin', so was I. We couldn't leave our beautiful inn to some hooligan to turn it upside-down and take all our precious treasures and turn it into somethin' nasty. No, we decided we would do whatever it took to save our inn, and, if the opportunity presented itself, ourselves."

"On with in!" the mage snarled.

"We made a blood-pact with someone. Someone who said to bring him a shapeshifter and a mage or he'd take our souls. So, when we saw you an' that Shifter, we was really excited."

"Who? Who was it?"

"Some fellow in dark blue-grey robes. Didn't show his face. He only showed us one of his hands, and I think he only had three fingers on that hand. He called himself, er, I think it was, uh, Romrir, or somethin' like that."

"Thank you, old one, you have been very helpful." Silvarn touched a glowing green fingertip to the man's forehead and the old one slipped out of consciousness with a blissful smile.

Aww...no fair! I thought I was going to get to rend his mind to shreds! Scorcahr suddenly complained.

"My regrets, Scorcahr. Maybe the next helpless old man?"

Do you really mean it? Scorcahr asked with unbridled glee.

"Yes. At least, for now. Romrir, strange name. Too many 'r' sounds for so small a word."

I would not make fun of it quite so quickly. After all, I am certain people make fun of you name, what with the hard 'arr' sound in it. Makes you sound like a pirate.

"Ugh. Pirates. Filthy creatures. Wait a moment..." Silvarn's eyes closed and a blazing train of thought surged through his mind, connecting memories and forging through the fog of forgotten times. His past life, his first life in Creation. He had met a pirate. Right before arriving in Bayland. In the outskirts of Bayland, he found a cave entrance. On the other side of the cave he found a temple. In the temple, he found...

Silvarn's eyes snapped open and he waved a finger madly through the air. Trails of shimmering silver appeared where flesh had been a second before. When he had finished, "ROMRIR" was written in the air. He held both hands toward the letters and then crossed them. The letters shifted into a new word. Silvarn could not find the means to say it. His hands trembled, his mouth became dry.

Somehow, he steeled himself and dashed off back towards Kerodi and Lyndi, dire news on his lips.

[jada]

Lyndi could see that Silvarn had became seccessful with something. The old man lay un concious on the ground and Silvarn looked puzzled for a minute. Then he came running towards Lyndi and Kerodi. "Silvarn, what is it. By the looks of it I'd say you just figured something out."

He looked so...excited...that he was haveing trouble getting it out.
"Spit it out, what did you figure out?"

[HoudiniDerek]

Kerodi watched Marisol from the corner of his eye as Silvarn marched the man into the forest. She did not look comforted that they would not be together to forestall the methods that he and Silvarn might apply. She gulped nervously before Kerodi turned back to face her.

"Now, your husband is probably getting the worst of the two methods being offered," Kerodi said lightly, twirling the vial now between his fingers absently. Marisol's eyes followed it diligently. "I think you should tell us what you were doing with Lyndi here and why."

Marisol looked around in a panic, fearing that any minute she would see Silvarn coming back and that Kerodi would allow him to take her into the forest off the path. She squirmed painfully and looked at the vial. "What is that?"

"This?" Kerodi asked carelessly. "This is a tonic that will help mend your wounds. However, I am not in a very giving mood at the moment. I am tempted to let you and your husband die." Marisol's eyes widened and she let spill everything about who they were and why they had abducted the girl.

Kerodi's eyes went the color of the vial as she spoke. When she was done, he unstoppered the vial and let her drink it down. He recapped it and she slumped to the side. Kerodi had just finished applying a bandage and splint to her arm and side when Silvarn raced back into view.

Lyndi asked him what he had learned, but he did not say anything. Kerodi told Silvarn what Marisol had said, but Silvarn did not seem surprised....that seemed to imply that he had heard the same information already, but from a different source. "What's the matter, Silvarn?"

Kerodi thought he knew what was the matter from the information he had heard, but he was pretty sure that only Silvarn could confirm it for him with any authority...and the look on Silvarn's face made him wish for the first time in many years...that he was wrong.

[Silvarn]

"We are giong to die. Each and every one of us. Slow and painful. That is, if we do not move quickly

"Our information is congruent. THe old ones were working for someone who called himself Romrir. I pride myself on my ability to solve anagrams very quickly. So, I solved this puzzle, though I wish I had not. 'Romrir' is 'mirror,' twisted. The Twisted Mirror. Navras is here, in this plane. Apparently, the Solars did not quite kill him.

"I do not ask you to follow me any longer. Doing so would put you in unnecessary danger. If you do come with me, then I will greatly appriciate it. But I must face Navras alone. This is my fight."

Silvarn waited for his friends' responses, half-expecting them to answer in the negative, the half expecting them to run away hastily.

[HoudiniDerek]

"In case you forgot, Silvarn, we agreed to work together to help you in your cause. Like you, your friend from the other plane will not be as capable here as you. You are going to need help where you can get it...and your best bet is the two of us for now." Kerodi stood up and brushed off his cloak. Marisol was asleep still and would not wake for several more hours. Kerodi assumed the same for the husband.

"Besides, Valear isn't exactly a small village. It might take him weeks to find us and then, he only knows what YOU are capable of and not the rest of us. Plus, if we can find some of the ancient magic in time, it might work to our advantage." Kerodi put his sword back in its scabbard on his hip and walked over to Silvarn.

"You will just have to calm down. Scorcahr, can't you help with that a little? I know it is not your strong suit, but I am sure there are worse people to share a conscious with than Silvarn." Kerodi winked and turned to Lyndi.

"You coming?"

[jada]

"Of course I'm comming. I wouldn't miss it for the world after all you two are really all I have to live for." She said smiling at them. She loved life but she figured out long ago it wasn't worth living unless you had someone to share it with.

"So where do we go from here? And wait I have a question, doesn't he know I'm with you. Because he was looking for a shapeshifter, or was it just a lucky guess on his part? I mean he seriously almost got us."

[HoudiniDerek]

Kerodi realized with a start that Lyndi was right. Why DID he want a shapeshifter? How had he known about the two of them? What was going on here?

Kerodi whistled Sansrin down while Silvarn and Lyndi watched. He spoke quietly in his ear about his need and his desire for swift action. Sansrin cawed loudly and flew up out of the forest and began winging steadily northeast. It might take him several days, but Kerodi knew that Sansrin would not rest until the task was completed.

"Silvarn, you have two willing companions. Have you made up your own mind yet? As you said, we probably do not have long."

[Silvarn]

"The Twisted Mirror has many spies. His single eye can be anywhere. In fact..." Silvarn kicked up a fist-sized rock with the toe of his boot, then slammed a blazing fist into it, sending it through the skull of a large raven. The beast gave a bubbly caw, then plummeted to the ground. Silvanr peered over it, catching the last remnants of a blue eye fading from around the raven's.

"He knows we are here. We need to leave. Now!"

Silvarn set off at a half-dash, more of a swift jog. "He can move very quickly. We need to be well away from this forest by nightfall. That is when he travels. And do not trust the people you meet along the way. They may be his spies. Or perhaps, even the Twisted Mirror himself."

[jada]

"Kerodi, get on my back we will move quicker! and hold onto my main, and squeeze your legs tight so you don't fall." Lyndi said and then shifted into a horse. She knelt down so it would make it easier for him to get up.

She was afraid of being spied on all the time. It kindof creeped her out. Someone constantly watching you. Like you were prey. It bugged the heck out of Lyndi considering she has been pray before, luckily enough she can shift and hold her own in a fight before something can eat her. In this case she wasn't so lucky.

[HoudiniDerek]

"Silvarn!" Kerodi called, frustrated that the man who was usually so calm and demure was getting upset about someone who was not as likely to be able to cause trouble. Taking over bodies to see was one thing, but being able to spy everywhere in Valear all at once was a little difficult to believe, especially since this Twisted Mirror was not as powerful in this plane of existence.

Kerodi took the proffered ride from Lyndi and set her off at a gallop after Silvarn, who was still frantically running down the path. They galloped up beside him moments later and continued to trot while he jogged. "Silvarn, he alreay knows we are here. Running will do us little good in the forest. There are animals every little bit of the way that can spy and will not know they are doing it. Our best bet is to think in a way that he will not expect."

Kerodi couldn't tell if Silvarn was listening or not, so Kerodi focused his mental energy and instead tried to reason with the demon. "He will probably not expect a return to the inn or the village. We should turn back and go a different way. Surprise is an element we do not have at the moment. We need to figure out a way to get it back. Can you turn him around?"

[Silvarn]

"Agh!" Silvarn gasped as he tumbled head over heels, his toe snagged on a unruly tree root.

There, done. the demon replied flatly to Kerodi.

"What was that for, you fool?" Silvarn growled to the tree root.

You are being unreasonable. You said so yourself, Navras cannot move during the daylight. Or even when the sun is out, but concealed by cloud. Now, let us take some deep, cleansing breaths and...why in Creation am I offering help? I should be goading you to your premature suicide!

"Thanks, Scorcahr." Silvarn rose moodily to his feet, his apathetic mask covering the building turmoil within. "He is right. I am being unreasonable. Irrational. Illogical, even. And I apologize for my behavior. But I do not want to be a slave again." His face darkened momentarily, but his expression lightened when he turned to Kerodi.

"You are right, Kerodi, he would not expect us to return to the inn. He expected me to act just the way I did. We are safe, for now. First things first, though. We need to get out of this forest."

[jada]

Lyndi neighed in agreement, and nodded her head. She couldn't really shift and talk to them or she would drop Kerodi hard on the ground. She lifted her head and smelled for water. The was a small river back towards the inn.

Lyndi Grabbed ahold of Silvarn's shirt and pulled him back towards the Inn. He could walk and talk to Kerodi at the same time. Soon enough they had come across the river and Lyndi trotted up to it drinking. The cool water felt good against her dry throat.

When she was done drinking she slowly kneeled down so Kerodi wouldn't hit the ground as hard when she shift. Although she didn't think things all the way through. Lyndi shifted and Kerodi landed right on top of her,"O!" She gasped," Mind getting off now Kerodi?"