Chapter 15

The party — Agate, Fender, Pua, and Vennoa — started on their next quest. They had left Tempest’s body in the care of Priestess Seireri, who had promised to take good care of him in the meantime.

“You must hurry,” Seireri had said. “We can only return his spirit to his body in the first ten days. After which, you would need much stronger magic that we don’t have.”

They left the Temple of Selune as quickly as they could, and headed towards the city gates. Everyone felt somewhat responsible for Tempest’s death, and wanted to do what they could. Vennoa remained silent and morose as they walked, even while Fender tried to make small talk with her.

Suddenly, Vennoa spotted a nicely-dressed old man leaning against the wall of an alley. It’s that man! She broke off from the group without a word, and headed directly towards him.

“You! Tell me what you want,” Vennoa declared as she walked into the alley and approached the man.

“Me? I’m just a simple old man,” the man replied, shuffling some cards.

“Don’t make me hurt you,” Vennoa said, taking out her dagger.

“Your fate is in the balance,” the man said cryptically. “You must decide how you want to proceed.”

“Vennoa!” Fender’s voice called out from the end of the alley.

Vennoa turned, and saw that the rest of the party had caught up with her. She turned back to finish her business with the old man, but he had disappeared. She grunted in frustration.

Vennoa didn’t tell the party about why she had wandered off, and they knew better than to ask more. The party left the city towards the East, towards the Sawtooth mountains. Seireri had mentioned that there were rumors of an old Dawrven fort in the mountains. While treasure hunters had come and gone over the years, no one had found the fort’s entrance. It was a long shot, but at least it was something. Dwarves tended to mine deep into the mountains and earth, so if they could find the fort, there was a good chance that they could find a diamond to use to revive Tempest.

This time, they did not take the cart and donkey. Seireri had also promised to send one of her acolytes to return it on their behalf. Going on foot was no slower than going on the cart, and through this forested region, walking was probably faster.

They had started walking along a well-trekked trail into the forest. Tall, dense foliage blocked out most of the moonlight, so the forest floor was dark and gloomy, perfectly fitting Vennoa’s mood. As time passed, the trail became less and less worn out, as if fewer people made it this far. Finally, the trail disappeared completely.

“Are we lost?” Fender asked, after they had been walking through shrubs for a few minutes.

“Most certainly not!” Pua said indignantly. “We Tortles have an excellent sense of direction. We are still headed due East from where we began.”

“I didn’t know turtles were like birds,” quipped Agate.

“Tortle!“ Pua said, with a small smile. By this time, he was used to that joke.

Agate and Fender also had small laughs and lightened their moods. Vennoa pretended that she hadn’t heard the exchange and went ahead of the party.

“What should we do about her?” Fender asked.

Agate shrugged. “There’s not much we can do. Hopefully we’ll find the diamond and revive her friend. To be honest though, it was her—”

Fender slapped Agate hard on his shoulder. “Don’t say it! It was no one’s fault. She’s already torn up inside as it is. Don’t you think she’s blaming herself every single moment?”

Vennoa’s thoughts were not about blame. Instead, she was filled with a burning rage. Rage at the dead gnome. Rage at the goblins. Rage at the kobolds. And rage at the party for not saving Tempest. And most of all, rage at herself for everything she did since she met Tempest. She almost wished that they would find some enemies at the Dwarven fort, so that she could get some revenge, or at least vent her anger. Yes. Yes! Feed your rage.