Zion: Light of the New Moon, Ch 1.3 Myre
Zion - Light of the New Moon Chapter 1.3
Myre This Isn't a Game
Valda will be watching the little human girl. Liam is the focus-point of this post; Leijh will not be submitting a journal.
Liam came-to in the back of the supply wagon. Anyone not in-the-know usually referred to coming off of a dose of Grace as 'awakening', the term didn't do it any real justice. When Liam was in the flowing bliss of the drug he felt more alive... everything felt more real. If anything, regaining his senses after the drug played its course was more like falling back asleep. Even though he had come to despise his addition to Grace, he realized that he would not be the same without it... nothing would. That was the most dangerous, insidious, most horrible and horribly wonderful thing about it; he wasn't living if he wasn't filled with Grace.
Looking around on the floor of the wagon, Liam searched for the small pouch that held his dwindling supply. His heart began to beat faster when he rapidly ran out of places to look; he had to find it! Grace wasn't just a preference... no... he was required to have it... he Needed it... with a capital N. The thing he despised most was also the thing he needed the most; without it, he would die. It was disconcerting to feel his body start to tense up and quiver at the thought of being without his drug; he had just come off of his high and should have been fine for hours without it, but his mind was beginning to play tricks on him and his body was already starting to show withdrawal symptoms.
"Get a hold of yourself." he told himself, reaching a paw into a nearby barrel. It was a water barrel, one he'd loaded himself. He splashed the water on his face, taking a few moments to steady himself and let the fake withdrawal pass. Until recently, the water barrel was his preferred place to hide his stash; easy to access and easy to use. The container wouldn't seem out of place among the rest of the supplies, but HIS barrel had a false bottom, accessible through a panel at the base. Double checking it to make sure that he hadn't somehow put his 'supply' back in place, he confirmed that, indeed, the Grace was missing.
For a moment, Liam was struck with the growing concern that the container of Grace had fallen out of the wagon; the transport had an open back and it wouldn't have taken much for the pouch to fall onto the ground. The possibility, Liam realized, was a silly one; he had backed the pouch against the same barrel he'd been leaning against; the road wasn't rough enough to send the pouch around the barrel and then out of the wagon. It was about that time that Liam caught scent of something that hadn't been there when he'd taken his dose: Liam smelled the scent of a human female.
Sniffing around, Liam was able to track her rough movement through the supply wagon. She had climbed up the back and crawled forward. She lingered near him and-- he sniffed. Did he smell his blood? He smelled his blood. The gears didn't take long to start churning in his head. The woman had lingered there in the wagon with him for perhaps-- he sniffed again-- twenty minutes. The fact that his syringe was gone also didn't miss his attention. Was there another Grace addict in the caravan? If so, she was obviously the one who had relieved him of his supply... but why did he smell so much of his blood? The thought weighed on his mind as he slowly made his way to the back of the wagon and hopped out onto the path.
Liam took a moment to steady himself, then quickly sprinted to the side before he was run over by the next wagon in line. He could still feel his head swimming slightly from the effects of the Grace-- it was both a good thing and a bad thing; it was good because that meant that he wasn't any closer to suffering from withdrawal; it was a bad thing because it meant that he was impaired. Drugged or no, Liam realized that he was going to have to find a way to replace the lost Grace. without having the right kind of distillery or alchemy tools it was not going to be easy.
Waiting until watchful eyes went elsewhere, Liam broke from the caravan and wound his way through the trees that occupied the side of the road. Myre's forests weren't unfamiliar to the fox, but he had to admit that he'd never been quite so far along the Myrean Highway. He knew his way around the Wild Lands, at least enough to know what he was looking for. Two flowers were the main ingredient to Grace-- if could find those then he would at least stand a chance at getting another dose... perhaps two. If he could gather enough then he might find a way to create a large enough supply to last him to a Wayside, or some other place the caravan would camp for two or three days. If he could spend that time looking for more supplies then--
"Hey!" the call startled the fox.
"Huh?" he asked, turning around. A shepherd dog was standing on a rise, ears and eyes focused on him. The dog was one of the caravan guards; Liam had seen him patrolling up and down the line from time to time. Keeland, was his name, the fox recalled, Keeland Reilly.
"It's not safe to be this far away from the caravan." the dog stated, "You're off the Highway and there's no telling what could be following us outside the Periphery."
"If you want, you can use him as bait to find out." came a deeper, much less friendly voice. Clomping up the incline into view was Bahrla, the enormous Wild Lander guide hired by the clergy, "I don't take too kindly to stupidity... and wandering away from safety is pretty stupid." she crossed her arms.
"I..." Liam paused, eyes searching all around as he quickly formulated a response, "I thought I saw something."
"Something?" Keeland and Bahrla asked at once.
His story came quickly to him as one he remembered from his youth, "A woman made of wood." he added, "she was beautiful... and I thought she was motioning to me." he lowered his ears and tail, putting on the best sheepish expression he could create, "Goddess, she was beautiful..."
Keeland glanced to the Wild Lander, who nodded, "It would have been a Aylvan." Bahrla said to the guard, "Not unexpected." and she quickly turned to Liam, "Get back to the caravan." she ordered, "if what you saw was real then chances are it will be trying to lead you away so it can kill you."
Liam yelped theatrically at that, scowling inwardly to himself when he considered that the sound may have come out a little too exaggerated to be believable. Thankfully he noted that the two had all but begun ignoring him by that point-- the little Sylvan-hunt he set them on had apparently done it's job. Climbing the incline, he passed them both. "You should feel pretty lucky to still be alive." Bahrla added to him as he passed her, "Maybe if you live through enough poor decisions your luck will help make you smarter." Heading back to the wagon train no closer to finding anything to replace his stolen Grace, Liam hoped that the cow was right.
The caravan was called to a halt about twenty minutes later; apparently the threat of Sylvans was enough to concern the caravan guard. Though none of the pilgrims or travelers were made aware of the REAL reason why they had stopped, Liam knew enough to realize that the Wild Lander wasn't about to take any risks and she was going to have the immediate area patrolled throughly before giving her approval to proceed. He snorted at the thought; the caravan was stopped but there would be too many eyes on the forest for him to try and collect what he so desperately needed.
walking through the encampment, trying to keep his muzzle from showing the apathy he felt inside, Liam attempted to distract himself by watching the goings-on around the wagons. The little human girl he'd heard about in passing was making an appearance; the squirrel chosen to be her babysitter was keeping a close eye on her while she sat speaking with a human male. The way the man watched the little girl it was obvious that she was his daughter. Although the squirrel was doing a decent job of keeping the man calm, it was obvious that he didn't want the girl with them on the trip. It made sense, of course-- Liam wouldn't have wanted any of his loved ones risking their lives in the Wild Land... not that he had any loved ones to care about any longer.
As Liam was just about to leave the clearing he caught sight of Lady Marion, one of the head clergy. She seemed to be watching the squirrel, the little girl, and the girl's father. The fox lingered for a few moments longer, watching expressions of thought and contemplation molded and changed the priestess' expression. Liam slowly continued on around the wagons as Lady Marion called to the squirrel, Valda by name. The resulting collection of choice tones of voice and colorful language would have encouraged Liam to linger for a time, if not for the fact that he still had business to attend to; if he couldn't make more Grace then his only other option would be to find the human woman who had taken his.
The next collection of carriages yielded no better results for the fox. The young lion cub acolyte Josh was seated on the ground with what looked like an older mongrel. The cub's caretaker had a small stone disc set out with a collection of multi-colored marbles placed on it. 'Phases' was a game that Liam had been very good at back in the day. Although it was a good way to keep the mind fresh and alert, it was played more often than not by youths and the elderly-- guards usually had better things to do with their time.
"I can do it in three." the cub proudly announced.
"Oh? Well I'd like to see you try." he slapped his leg, a faint jingling of metal issuing up from the charm bracelet around his wrist.
"There... there..." Josh paused, contemplating the board, "and that one there." he smiled proudly, looking up at the man opposite him, "See, Mr. Silverflame? Three."
"Well, if that doesn't beat all." the mutt announced, reaching out across the board to ruffle the cub's mane sprouts, "By the Goddess, that DOES work!" The two shared a laugh. The entire scene made Liam start to feel sick to his stomach; he used to have moments like that, albeit, a long time ago... back before he left the church to seek a job as a guard. Sometimes he wondered if he wasn't being punished by Tah'aveen for the direction his life went. The fox sighed and moved on.
Liam returned to the supply wagon once word passed through the caravan that the wagon train was ready to continue. He had no luck earlier finding anything to replace his lost supply, and, most recently he'd had no luck finding anyone that matched the scent of the woman who had apparently stolen his last few doses. If he continued having such a bad run of luck then he realized that he wouldn't have to worry about the Wild Lands killing him... his body would save it the trouble. As the fox was hefting himself up into the wagon, he paused. Sniffing, Liam smelled a fresh scent... that same scent of the female human. "Now what?" he demanded.
Moving carefully into the wagon, Liam knelt down next to the hidden compartment at the base of the water barrel; her scent was stronger there. With a quick flip of a hidden latch, the fox opened the compartment and found a small, wrapped scroll waiting for him. "Alright, girl..." he spoke to the scroll, pulling it out of its hiding place, "What's your angle?" The fox turned the small note around in his paws but froze when he saw the signet. Liam had seen that stamp before-- it had been on the court papers from his dismissal from the guard... the ones that had confined him to his home after the city had learned of his addiction to Grace. It was the stamp of the noble who had acted as the judge at his hearing: Lord Dalton.
With shaking paws, Liam opened the scroll and read:
"Liam, I understand you are probably quite confused and more than a little upset. Rest assured, your well-being is not being ignored. Based on your lack of care regarding your 'medicine' it is obvious that you are still a risk to yourself. Remain calm, and await word. This should see you through until our next contact."
Attached to the letter was a small square of wrapped paper; Liam could smell the unmistakable scent of powdered Grace within. He was, at that moment, both relieved and infuriated. Either way, he swallowed both emotions and stuck the packet, note and all into his pocket. Whoever the woman was it was obvious that she had the upper paw-- or, hand rather... at least for the moment. He planned on finding her, and getting all of the information-- not to mention all of his Grace. The fact that he didn't realize that she was stationed as a patrol woman right beside the cart certainly didn't make things any easier but, then again, she didn't plan for them to be all that easy anyway.
* * * * *
The Myrean Group has completed Chapter 1.
The caravan was faced with its first decision and, no matter how small it might have been, it will certainly have consequences further down the line. Relationships are quickly forming among the travelers-- it will be interesting to see where things go from here.
As there was no significant combat nor powerful magic or prayers, the group got through things without any injuries or fatigue.
Please watch for upcoming contribution opportunities as Chapter 2 will soon begin. Congratulations to the Myrean Group for completing Chapter 1!