Selm
Wilderness Outside of Beldeth
"Enough grumblin'. We're close enough," Baz huffed. It was directed to Runner, who, for the past several hours of walking, had thrown complaints and small pebbles at Selm's heels. The pebbles were annoying but painless. Selm likely deserved a few pebbles after going back on her word to not use utterancy against Runner. But the complaints(which were more like personal attacks) were little jabs in the ribs that Selm could have lived without.
Selm was discovering how creative Runner could be when insulting her.
The rest had let Runner vent her frustrations to a certain extent. After further conversation, calm conversation, they had finally coaxed Runner into agreement. She was not thrilled to be chasing down the enemy that they had not survived their first run-in with, but there were several arguments in favor of the idea.
Getting out of debt quicker ultimately got her to agree.
"Hay-haired cousin of a ship rat," Runner muttered. That one was fairly tame. Finally, the tempest was pettering out. Selm had stopped responding to them at some point, which likely helped. In all honesty, it was good practice for her. Sensitivity training. Yule had been right, she did need thicker skin.
A withering glance from Baz got Runner towards the front of the group, her shoulders rolling in preparation. "Ye remember the plan?"
"Yeah yeah. I do."
"Find where that thing is, get out. Run if ye need," He repeated the scouting portion of the plan anyway, much to Runner's annoyance. She waved him off as she began to creep forward away from the group.
The five of them, plus Eldrig, had found Beldeth's outermost reaches with little difficulty. After following the tiny village road for long enough, it became evident just where they needed to go. The stench of those devils was pungent enough that there was no mistaking where the village was. They had stopped to rest for a moment and to get a better lay of the land before their assault.
"He-here. I kn-know it's n-not much… b-but I r-requested these for you all," Eldrig, fully armored and looking ready for battle went to each of them, passing out small vials. Red liquid with small flecks of shimmering silver suspended within. "T-they will mend you quickly i-in an emergency. I-its pa-painful, I will warn yo-you, but effective."
After each of them got one, they took the time to inspect the vials. Baz grunted in appreciation while Inathia was looking at the vial in avid curiosity. She was even holding it up to the evening sun, watching as the vial practically glowed with a mesmerizing gleam.
"Thank you, Eldrig. I am aware of just how valuable these potions are. Inathia, stop staring at the sun, please." Yule commented, putting his vial within his robes. Inathia was already blinking painfully, the warning a few moments too late.
"Why did Runner not receive one?" Selm asked. Certainly, it would not do to send their scout in without some form of emergency healing. That would be cruel.
"She got hers," Baz stated.
"I mi-misplaced the vials ear-earlier b-before we left. S-she found them a-and asked what th-they were. I-it just made s-sense to give it t-to her then." As much sense as that made, she did catch Baz rolling his eyes. Strange.
"H-how much are these? They are pretty…" Inathia asked, one of her eyes watering while the other stared at the potion in her hand. The vial looked tiny in comparison to the girl's clawed grip.
"A-ah… the military g-gets them a-as part of o-our supplies, so I am n-not sure on h-how much they fully co-cost."
"This variety would cost about the same as a normal horse," Yule stated matter of factly. Inathia nearly dropped hers as Selm let out a gasp.
"Wait what? But that is at least a hundred gold!?"
Yule shook his head. "What constitutes as a normal horse for you? It's closer to half that amount."
"W-woah…" Inathia was looking down at the small vial with more trepidation as if simply holding it against her scales would shatter it. It may. Her scales were tough, despite their supposed flexibility.
"How did you manage to convince the Lieutenant Commander to give us these?" Selm wondered, looking to Eldrig.
The knight sheepishly readjusted his shield upon his arm. "I t-traded a f-few favors f-for them. P-people kinda o-owe me here and there."
"What favors?" Baz asked. He was busy keeping an eye out in the direction Runner had slunk off in. His eyes had been proven to be better than most of theirs, thus they were happy to leave the duty to him for the moment.
"J-just stuff th-they didn't want t-to do. A-a couple extra sh-shift of d-digging foundations and s-some e-extra maintenance d-duties."
Aw, well that was sweet of him. "Eldrig, you are a kind soul. Thank you. We will ensure we use these well."
Everyone else also thanked the timid leonin. It is both amusing and a little saddening to see him so shy when offered gratitude. From Selm's experience, that usually means he hasn't often been thanked before. Poor boy. She would have to see about paying him back for all his kindness someday. He has been nothing but kind to them since the moment they met and has put himself in harm's way to protect them time and time again.
"Do you think Runner is her real name?" Inathia blurted out, minutes after the conversation lulled.
"Unlikely," Selm shrugged. "Why do you ask?"
"I have never known someone named Runner."
"I must admit, it is an… interesting moniker," Yule commented. He was not wrong. Selm was used to traditional family names, more specifically, noble house names. The more she interacted with the common folk, the more she realized just how vast and varied people's titles and names could be. She doubted she would ever get used to them, but the idea of unique names being decided on a whim simply for the sake of the name sounding interesting for fun was alien to her.
"Is it because she runs fast?" Inathia asked, befuddled.
"I doubt it, Inathia," Selm replied.
"...but she does run fast. We have seen her run." The dragonborn frowned, confusion clearly growing.
Selm let out an amused sigh. "Yes, but that is likely not why she calls herself such. It would be akin to calling you, er… Shielder?" How creative.
"Because I have a shield?"
"...yes."
"Oh."
A small huff of amusement came from Baz's direction. "Names ain't simple things. Can mean a lot to a person. Depends on who."
"I like the name Runner! Almost as much as Selm!" Selm's eyebrow rose a bit. She tilted her head inquisitively at the comment.
"You like my name? How come?"
"It has a hiss in the beginning. It reminds me of home, with my friends. Baz is an okay name, with a hiss at the end too."
"Well thank you Inathia, that is quite kind. What about Baz's name only qualifies it as 'okay'?"
"It is too short for an old person."
Selm giggled, hiding her mouth behind her hand as she watched Baz twitch at the comment. Yule snorted, chuckling as he fought to contain his amusement. Even Eldrig, as reserved as he was, laughed underneath his helmet. Inathia looked around at them in confusion.
"What? Why is that funny?"
Baz turned to partially look at her, giving her a side-eye that only prolonged the dragonborn's confusion. "I'm only thirty-two."
The rest of them laughed harder at Inathia's expression. It was nigh impossible to not. Her eyes were as wide as saucers, unblinking as she stared at him with a dumbfounded look. Her toothy jaw opened and closed several times with audible clicks.
Finally, after a solid minute of gaping, she seemed to get her surprise under control. "Then why are you so old? Um… old-feeling?"
"In-Inathia please," Selm wheezed out, falling to her knees. Her cheeks were flushed and she had tears in her eyes, yet she was not the worst off here. "You are gonna kill Yule!" The mage was on the ground, full-on cackling with maniacal glee, much to the half-orcs grumbling disapproval.
"What? Why is he dying? What is… why is this so funny?" Inathia gave a frustrated stomp of her foot, partially denting the ground around it. Selm wished she could tell her why they were laughing so hard, but she could barely sit up and breathe through the amusement. The combination of obliviousness from Inathia and the suddenness of the comment with the fact that Baz was obviously younger than Yule and likely even Selm was just too much.
"They're laughin' at my expense. Don't worry," Baz muttered to her, returning to his watch. "I seem old cuz I have seen shit. There's yer answer."
"Oh, okay."
It took a few more minutes of the occasional bout of giggling to wear off before they were able to stand and dust themselves off. Selm's ribs ached but in a good way. She could not recall the last time she had had such a good laugh. A laugh not made of out politeness or out of obligation, but a genuine, hearty laugh. It felt nice.
Conversation petered out and silence returned. It was a different kind of silence than before. A more comfortable one. It was better than the silence before a deadly battle. That silence was awful.
~~~
The tense atmosphere returned with Runner. An hour had passed since when she had made her way towards Beldeth. Baz gave everyone a warning as she approached, but it was still a tad bit shocking to see the human covered in ash and soot. By her expression, the situation was dire.
"Eshah, someone give me their water," Runner coughed, her face smeared with grime. Baz passed her his canteen, to which she gratefully gulped down. "Thanks."
"What did you see? Were you able to locate the creature?" Yule questioned, closing the notebook he had been writing in.
"Yeah… I did. It nestled itself inside a burned-out house. Most of the buildings are either burned down or on fire. I don't think anyone can live here anymore."
"Oh no…" Inathia said sadly. Selm shared her sentiment. Those poor people… their homes gone and many of them lost to the monsters that destroyed the village. It was a tragedy for Keldanis. Selm offered a small prayer to the Lady of the Hearth to guide those lost souls to their afterlives of choice.
"S'not the only thing either," Runner said, uselessly wiping at her nose. "Those skeleton fucks are still there, just wandering around. Its almost like they are patrolling."
"Did they look like they were guarding something? Someone? What were their routes like?" Yule's brow furrowed. That did not bode well. If they were somehow more organized than what the camp's scouts had led them to believe, they would be in for much worse than they expected.
"I watched them for a good twenty minutes, but it looks like they are just milling about. No one else was there, best I could tell."
"Doesn't mean they ain't there," Baz added.
"True, but to make sure, I went all the way around the border. Didn't catch hide nor hair of anyone. Especially not that mage lady." Runner spat onto the ground, displeasure written across her dirty features. "I swear… if that crazy bitch was here I would have been long gone by now.
"And yet you remain. I would say that speaks to your commitment in seeing this through," Selm commented.
"...my gut is tellin' me we could do this. Those things weren't nearly as organized as they were at the ambush. Nor are there nearly as many."
"Likely as good as it will get for us, I would imagine. Eldrig? Any comments from the resident soldier?"
Eldrig snapped his head to Yule in surprise. "Y-you are ask-asking me? F-for my opinion…?" At Yule's nod, Eldrig paused before speaking further. "U-uhm… It w-would be wise t-to remember th-that y-your flame spells w-will be disadvantageous a-against these foes… a-and Selm's v-voice won't work a-against bones."
"That is a reasonable assumption. I do have some other elemental spells up my sleeve, but they are not the most potent of spells. As for Selm-"
"Ah, right. I forgot. There are also little flying fire thingies," Runner interrupted.
"Fire 'thingies'?" Inathia asked.
"Yeah. They look like little beasties made of fire. Kinda like a mix between an imp and a torch. They were flying in the air near the big shitstain."
Yule made an inquisitive sound. "That sounds like some minor flame elementals. Often seen around sources of fire and destruction. They would not be an unusual sight to see in a burning village. It is not unusual to see around a 'monster made of living fire', to use the refugee's wording."
"Will they be 'n issue?" Baz asked.
"Likely, a small one. They are summoned from the Infernum. Attempt to quell their flames of origin and they will not be happy. In light of new enemies, I will alter the plans slightly. I will try to take the elementals down before engaging with the rest of the battle. My lesser elemental spells will be able to deal with them easily, and I am speaking from experience. They were not uncommon during my studies."
"I suppose I will need to be only facing the big beast, right?" Selm asked nervously. Yule nodded. "Right. Of course. I will do my best, then."
"Worry not, Inathia is your shield and Runner shall be your blade. All you must do is keep it occupied until the Baz and Eldrig have finished the undead and I have rid us of those elementals. Then, the demon dies."
"I still don't understand that…" Inathia muttered.
Yule sighed. "Like I explained earlier, hellhounds have one head. This is a dyokyon, as far as I am aware. It is a demon, not a devil. I think."
"Ye only think?" Baz said.
"Summoning and conjuration were not my primary areas of study. I specialize in the art of destruction and power, not pets."
"So we are really doing this? We can still turn back. Let the soldiers take care of it," Runner asked. When everyone nodded, she sighed. "Well, guess we are doing this. Shit. Alright. I'll show you where I think we should start. I think we can lure a few of those boney assholes away from the village first. The ones at the far edge."
"Good. The sooner we can all focus on the primary threat, the better."
Selm watched Baz bend his head down for a few moments as he clasped at his holy symbol. She closed her eyes, whispering her own prayers to the Nine True. Please. Let us vanquish our foes. Let us live to see tomorrow. I beg of you.