Embers in the Dust

“Are you sure this is the place?”

Rhokhishi looked at the sign above the door. It was old and wooden, like the rest of the one-story building in front of her, but it said “The Runesmith” in clear markings. She was confused about how this could be the place, but when she asked Sarnorin about it before leaving Lyrical Lute, that’s where he told them to go.

“Big and powerful mage, able to conjure creative arcana, but lives in a shack?” Lyla asked on top of her previous question.

“This is where he said to go. Looks can be deceiving.”

They walked over to the front door and carefully opened it. Rhokhishi was worried that she would slightly turn the doorknob and it would break off. Inside, bright light made it hard to see, but she gasped once she closed the door behind them and let her eyes adjust. The inside was clean, with stone walls, covered top to bottom with shelves of items. To the side, a large circular stairway led up four more stories. She looked over to Lyla.

“See?”

“Oh wow…”

Above them, on one of the higher floors, Rhokhishi could hear someone moving around.

“Hello?”

“Oh! Hello. One second.” A voice rang out from above.

She watched the stairs as an older man walked into the stairwell, but instead of taking each step, he walked into the middle and casually floated down each floor until landing on the floor lightly.

“Hello, my name is Sky. Welcome to my shop.”

“Hiya Sky! It feels like forever since we saw you last.” Lyla stated.

“Last? Who might you be?”

“Rhokhishi and Lyla. We were in Moonbright with Leaf the last time.”

“Oh! It is a joyous day to have you both here. I imagine you brought your pet as well?”

Rhokhishi felt the creature on her arm vibrate with excitement. Carefully, she turned her arm and let it morph into a small ball, which she brought to Sky.

“My dear friend, let me know how you’ve been.” He spoke to the creature.

Like an excited pet, it snaked around Sky’s arm, wrapping along it and shaking. He brought it up to his face and let it move around his neck and head for a few moments before laughing and pulling it away. Satisfied, he placed it on the palm of his hand and held it back for Rhokhishi to call.

“It seems that you’ve taken great care of them. I can tell that feeding has not been an issue?”

“No sir, everything has been great.”

“I’m glad to hear. Speaking of that transaction, I’m happy to say that we were able to sell the dragon’s heart yesterday. We had quite a few interested parties, but many of them were unwilling to pay the price. Yesterday, though, one of my contacts stopped by and made a deal.”

Sky walked carefully over to a chair and sat down. He turned towards Rhokhishi and Lyla, though she knew he could not see them.

“Well, what can I do for you two lovely ladies today?”

“We’ve faced a few big challenges lately, and our healer isn’t with us right now.” Lyla started. “We did come across a decent amount of coin, and it would be nice to grab some potions that could help us.”

“That would be on the second floor. If you’d like to look, there should be placards for everything.”

“Perfect!”

Rhokhishi looked around the first floor. There was a large variety of material components that were used for magic, but she knew little of them.

“What about you? Anything you’d like to take a look at today?” He asked her.

“I have most everything I need, but it would be nice to check out some upgrades of what I have.”

“Let’s see what we can do.”

The hour went by quickly, but Rhokhishi managed to make herself relatively lighter by buying some new weaponry, as well as an upgrade to her ball bag. Smiling, she waited on Lyla and talked with Sky about the many items he had.

“Most of the items are made by the academy’s students. As part of an agreement between myself and the institution, I provide material components for free, but I also get the creations made for most things. While some of it comes to me in a not-so-ready state, I take the items to the top floor and work on them leisurely. I can usually make a decent amount of coin off those things, and it saves me the hassle of making a lot of the items myself. Plus, if someone is highly interested in the work, I can make connections for up-and-coming mages.”

“It sounds like good work.”

“It is. There’s nothing better than helping others enjoy life to the fullest.”

A few minutes later, Lyla came down with an armful of potions and placed them carefully on the counter. She paid for them with a little bit of bargaining, put them in her bag, and said their goodbyes to The Runesmith. They walked back to Lyrical Lute, dropped their items off in their bedroom, and then made their way back down for lunch.

Sarnorin worked loudly in the kitchen, singing along to a song that had been stuck in his head for the last few days. The halfling owner wasn’t anywhere to be seen, and a red-skinned genasi was taking his place at the front desk. When Rhokhishi walked past, she took a double look and sat beside Lyla at the bar.

“Don’t you think that-”

“She looks like a female Blight, right!?”

“Exactly!”

“Should we ask her?” Lyla asked.

Rhokhishi leaned back in her chair, trying to get a look at the genasi again. Waiting for a moment when she didn’t look busy, she called out.

“Excuse me! Do you happen to know a genasi named Blight?”

The woman stopped, her head snapping in their direction.

“Yeah? Why?”

“We don’t wanna be rude. It’s just that you look a lot like him,” Lyla answered.

“How do you know my brother?”

“Oh! You must be Scoria! He’s talked about you so much on the road.”

“You’re from the carnival?”

“Yeah. Well, we were. We left for the winter season to do some traveling,” Rhokhishi stated.

“If you see him again, tell him to come home. His family would like to see him sometime.”

“Of course,” Rhokhishi agreed with a smile.

After a brief lunch and some time together, Rhokhishi took a slight nap, then awoke to the smell of dinner already being made. Assuming her friends were back from their busy day, she dressed and went down to see them all at a table, with one of the drakewardens and their drake sitting with them. Rhokhishi walked by Lyla, kissing her on the top of her head, then sat beside her.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yes,” Leaf answered. “This is Sam. Apparently, I need a bodyguard in the city, so Sam was told to keep an eye on me while we’re here.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Sam stated with a happy smile.

“You too. I’m Rhokhishi.”

There was a quiet pause, and then Mr. Muffins started back up with his conversation.

“It sounds like they think if Leaf doesn’t take the position, Darion will.”

“Yes, but who would take his job as a dean?” Myla asked.

“Well, Andrai is already doing the work right now. Maybe they would,” Leaf thought aloud.

“It’s only one of many things the students are talking about. You might know more about this than I do,” he gestured to Sam. “But apparently, there’s been more dragon killings. Like, more than the sapphire one we fought in Moonbright. A black dragon died in the northern sections of The Novularond Plains, and a grouping of drakes was found dead just North of The Gray Forest.”

“It’s been pretty bad lately, from what we’ve heard,” Sam explained. “There’s been a decent amount of unrest in the city lately, too. Some robberies, some elves going missing. It’s been a pretty crazy few months. The guards have done what they can, but they’ve also asked us to keep an eye out.”

“I wish that was the worst of it. Now that you’re here, I can mention what I heard at VerdantKnoll,” Myla started pulling out a book and flipping through the pages.

“Me?” Rhokhishi asked.

“Well, it might be more interesting to all of us, but I figured it would be important to let you know, too, with your past.”

“Spill it instead of bushwhacking at it.” Mr. Muffins pushed.

“It seems that Zarin will be opening a new temple.”

“What? Where?” Rhokhishi asked as she sat up in her seat.

“That’s the thing they’re unsure about. There are rumors of Airelon, Aramore, or Moonbright as possible locations.”

Do you think it has to do with the recent defeat of Dubh Catha and Zidingris that he’s choosing these places? Myla asked through her mind to the rest of them.

Airelon is our home too, sis. Why would he want to go there?

You may be right about the first two. And Airelon wouldn’t be a bad place, considering it’s a center location for two other Hound of War locations. It’s not far from Lyla’s monastery, where the Book of Io was originally. Leaf speculated.

“You all got really quiet. Is everything okay?” Sam asked.

“Yeah, it’s just been a long day,” Mr. Muffins jumped in to save the oddity of the silence.

“Well, it’s a little weird that elves have been going missing. There was rumor that they were getting sick from something. But of course, it’s all rumors…”

Sam kept talking about her speculations, and the party did their best to pay attention while continuing their mental connection.

So, if Zarin is trying to build a new temple, maybe he’s trying to extend his power.

Then we’ll have to stop him. Rhokhishi stated in a tone of finality.

Well, we know that Zariel is in the Nine Hells somewhere. Maybe that’s why Yla told Lyla and me to be back at the River Styx?

Maybe…