EPISODE 59:
CLIFFSIDE
Burning pain in his leg caused Vash to stagger and fall to one knee. His Guild Medallion, apparently, had done all it could to block the corruption from the Giant Rat’s bite. Now he felt it throb with every heartbeat, spreading out from the minor wound in his calf.
Sera was at his side immediately. “What is it?”
“Rat bite on my calf.” Vash said through gritted teeth. “Must have been carrying an infection or some other corruption.”
Sera kneeled down and tore open Vash’s pants leg to get a better look. Vash glanced back and felt his stomach lurch. The bite was small, just a one-inch gash just below the muscle. Tendrils of bruised, infected flesh radiated out from that gash like a spiderweb. A ragged and swollen rash, dark greenish- brown and the purple of a deep bruise, covered his calf and was working up to his knee.
“, I’ve seen it before. It’s not fatal, but it will sap your agility,” Sera said, reaching into her bag and rooting around for something.
“Can you do a healing spell and get rid of it?” Vash asked.
“It doesn’t work like that,” Sera said, shaking her head. “Since it’s a power that derives from a god, it uses a god’s mana. My healing powers aren’t enough to counteract the power of a god. There are rituals that will purge it from you, but they take time, and only Master Clea knows how to perform them.”
“Do we leave him here?” Corwin asked, looking anxiously towards the falls. With the defeat of the Scalebacks in the village, the sounds of battle were easy to hear. “We have to get to Jabez before it’s too late.”
“I’d rather not lose one of our fighters, if we can help it.” Sera said, giving Vash a smile as she pulled out a jar of yellowish ointment.
“Even if I am ‘creepy’.” Vash said, smiling back.
Sera blushed slightly and looked away. “I said that was creepy, not you specifically.”
She opened the jar and a strong, antiseptic scent wafted out of it. Vash wrinkled his nose and blinked his eyes at the powerful scent. Sera dipped two fingers into the thick, pasty substance, then spread it over the gash on Vash’s leg.
The sudden sting made Vash suck in air through his teeth. He suppressed a groan of pain.
“Don’t be a baby.” Sera chided, spreading the paste over the affected area. “You’ll take a sword to the shoulder and won’t bat an eye, a little sting, and you’re crying for your mothers.”
“Just surprised me, that’s all.” Vash said, though his voice was strained. “What is that?”
“We call it , though it looks more like cheese curds to me. It’s a purifying salve. We can’t purge the infection yet, but this will relieve the pain and stop it from spreading until we can get you back to the Infirmary.” Sera said, closing the jar and putting it back in her bag.
Vash glanced back at his leg and watched as the glistening salve turned an opaque white, then formed a dry chalky cast over the infection. The pain faded to a dull ache and receded back to the original bounds of the wound. Vash let out a relieved breath.
“That’s much better, thank you,” He said, getting back to his feet.
“Don’t thank me yet,” Sera said with a chuckle. “I’m a crap healer. That’s why I was studying under Master Clea. The Temple hoped I’d learn a few things under her.”
“Can you keep up, Vash?” Corwin asked, eager to get moving.
“I’ll be fine.” Vash said. “Let’s go.”
As they jogged past the dazed survivors of the white-haired halfling called out to Corwin. “I guess that takes care of my rat problem! Next sandwich is on the house!”
“I’m holding you to that!” Corwin called over his shoulder.
Laughter and cheers erupted behind them. Vash marveled at the warm feeling that suddenly overwhelmed him. He had helped save their lives, and they cheered him for it. When he fought Redcaps or Bo’sun Boys back in Sathsholm, the residents of Ragpicker’s Hollow hadn’t cheered. Most had looked at him and the other Eth Mitaan with fear and suspicion.
Vash thought.
He knew that everything they did wasn’t the most honorable. The redleaf trade, the loans, the smuggling.
Vash reasoned, but the difference between the little girl a moment ago standing in that doorway, and the eyes of any part-blood child who saw him doing his duties as an Eth Mitaan was stark.
He didn’t have time to dwell on it. A few minutes’ jog from the village brought them to the front lines. Vash had never seen anything like it. The Scalebacks held the wooden bridge across the Amical River, only twenty or so feet from where it plunged over the cliff into the pools below. The trail that led down to the base of the falls was on the other side of that bridge. It only took a few Nightscales to hold back the larger Wayfarer force.
The Wayfarers were in chaos. Stahl shouted orders to his warriors, who were trying to push back the Nightscales. Lin and her delvers kept to the periphery, attacking when they saw an opening in the line or spotted a Scaleback that swam the river. However, they kept getting swept up in Stahl’s relentless charges, so they got in the way more than they helped. Brother Orban set up a small shrine, keeping up a steady flow of blessings and working to triage any wounded. He and the other clerics looked frustrated and harried.
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Master Sellick stood at the back of the crowd, arguing with a group of Wayfarers, all of whom looked distraught and motioned vehemently towards the pathway down the cliff. Vash spotted a familiar face at the edge of Sellick’s group. The tall, grim-looking paladin that accompanied Edda during his meeting with the School of the Wayward Path, was watching the argument with Master Sellick.
Vash thought,
“Charity!” Vash called, waving to get her attention.
The paladin looked up, startled by someone calling her name. She spotted Vash, Corwin, and Sera. After a moment’s hesitation, she walked over to meet them.
“Vash, isn’t it?” Charity asked as she approached, looking them over with a critical eye. “You look like you’ve been busy.”
“We just came from the Infirmary.” Sera said. “The Scalebacks attacked there as well. While we’re all distracted by this attack, the rest of the lizard-men are raiding the village itself.”
Charity stiffened, a deep frown on her face. “We need to go back and help the villagers, then.”
“We already did what we could.” Vash said, stepping in her way and holding up a restraining hand. “Something else is going on. When we went to the Infirmary, we found that Master Jabez is missing, likely kidnapped by the Scalebacks.”
“And I haven’t seen Sister Clea all evening.” Sera added.
Charity looked at them sharply, her slate-gray eyes searching for meaning in Sera’s words. “Master Edda has been missing since before our evening meal. That group pestering Master Sellick—” she gestured to the clump of Wayfarers she had just left. “—also have partners and masters who are missing.”
“We think the Scalebacks are taking them down to the Underlands.” Vash said. “There are nine Heartstones in a ruined temple down there. The right sacrifice will start turning them into a Dungeon Heart.”
“We need to get across that bridge and down to the entrance of the Underlands.” Corwin said, frowning at the disorganized melee by the river.
Charity shook her head. “The Scalebacks are holding the bridge and the river is too dangerous to cross this close to the falls. Those big ones…”
“Nightscales.” Vash cut in.
“What?” Charity asked, frowning in confusion.
“I call them Nightscales.” Vash explained.
“Fine, the are holding their own against seasoned adventurers. Anyone without an arcane or celestial infused weapon is having trouble doing any damage to them.” Charity said.
“Maybe if we do a concentrated push against them, we can break their line.” Corwin said.
“They’ve been trying. It’s not going well,” Charity said. She frowned, then glanced at the cliffs nearby. “There might be another way.”
“We’re all ears.” Sera said.
“My friend Morwen showed me a quick way down the cliffs.” Charity said. “It’s a narrow track and if the Scalebacks spot us, we’ll be easy prey. But we’ll be able to get to the base of the cliffs without having to cross the falls.”
“Morwen? The ranger who brought me in?” Vash asked.
“Yes. She knows this area better than most.” Charity said. “I think she and Master Rowan headed down there when we got word of the wards failing.”
“Should we tell Master Sellick?” Sera asked, looking concerned. “We’re just apprentices. Taking on a Dungeon Heart isn’t something we’re supposed to be doing yet.”
Charity shook her head. “Too many people on the track will draw attention. It would be easy for the Scalebacks to pick us off if we’re spotted.”
“We won’t go into the Underlands.” Vash said. “We just need to keep the Scalebacks from taking the sacrifices from the surface. “
“Then we should hurry.” Charity said, taking up her metal-banded quarterstaff and heading toward the cliffs.
“You heard the lady.” Vash said, jogging after Charity, who had broken into a run close to where they stood. He heard the clanking of Corwin’s armor, telling him that the big man was not far behind. Vash hoped Sera would join them, too. Having a cleric along had proved useful.
Vash wasn’t as fast as he normally was and he favored his injured leg. Through the plaster on the rat bite, he could feel the heat and dull ache of the infection bleeding through. He would have to keep that in mind going into any fights ahead.
Charity lead them through a stand of trees close to the Lodge. The old oaks and pines clustered on a thrust of land that jutted from the top of the cliffs. They also concealed that part of the cliff face itself. Charity slowed, moving with careful intensity past the trees and underbrush as she sought the path that Morwen showed her.
A few moments of careful searching, and Charity found the trail. “Here it is. Follow close, but we will need to go single-file. When I said it was a narrow track, I wasn’t kidding.”
Vash nodded, looking behind at Corwin and Sera. Corwin exchanged places with Sera, letting her stay in the middle behind Vash, and taking up the rear himself. Charity moved slowly through the underbrush. Just ahead, Vash could see the moonlit valley through the trees. It looked like the cliff dropped off just a few feet ahead. Charity turned abruptly, just before the drop-off, then slowly descended.
Slowly, Vash followed in Charity’s footsteps, moving carefully in the darkness. When he got to where she turned, Vash saw a very narrow shelf of rock that zig-zagged down the sheer face of the cliff. The track was barely a foot across, meaning Vash had to shuffle awkwardly behind Charity. The paladin moved with a sure-footed grace that instantly earned her Vash’s annoyance.
. Vash thought, trying not to think about the long drop off to his left.
Sera seemed nervous, but she followed him quickly and quietly down the track.
Corwin grunted and scraped his way down the path. His feet almost took up the entire track on their own, and agility had never been one of Corwin’s primary attributes. He shuffled along awkwardly, keeping up with the group, but he was not anywhere near as silent as Charity or Vash.
. Vash thought. Charity is right. .
For tense minutes, they moved in near silence, slowly descending the cliff towards the forested valley below. Vash looked out over the valley, finding the base of the falls not far away. The water cascading over the edge of the cliff struck a series of rocks on the way down, splitting the falls. Part struck the lake that then emptied into an extension of the Amical river, which flowed down and joined the Obrun in the distance. The other cascaded down another series of rocks before plunging into the inky depths of the Underlands.
Vash could see shadows moving around that deep hole.
He was so preoccupied with trying to get a view of the ground around the falls that he almost walked into Charity’s back.
“Whoa, why are we stopped?” Vash asked, struggling to keep his balance.
Charity held up one hand. Her eyes focused on the cliffs just below them. “Something is out there.”
Vash peered out into the darkness, his eyes adjusting to elvish low-light vision. The deep shadows of night slowly vanished, brightening to a kind of colorless twilight. At first, Vash saw nothing, then he spotted movement further down the cliff.
Four Scalebacks were climbing up the side of the cliff. They climbed freehand, their claws digging easily into the uneven rock face. Though three of them were far enough away that they would not cross the path of the descending Wayfarers, the fourth was ascending only a few dozen paces away.
It hadn’t spotted them yet, but it was only a matter of time.
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