My Second Life Is A Heroic Power Fantasy 209 Aftermath

In the village center, pyres for the fallen had been erected, and Jack recognized numerous familiar faces in their midst, Urien among them. The pyre he lay on hid most of the damage the acid had done to him, leaving a pristine front. If Jack hadn't seen him die with his own eyes, he could have easily mistaken the man for sleeping. Walking amongst the bodies, he realized Farlo wasn't among them. And to his relief, neither was Rose. When he finally tracked down Gragh'mah and asked, he was led to one of the huts the ringed the outside of the village square. Over half a dozen gnolls and adventurers lay wounded on beds. There, on a rough cot, lay a very battered but very much alive Farlo. He was still asleep, so the two of them left him be. Rose, however, was awake and eating soup when the two of them walked around the corner. She screamed at the sight of her sister and went to sit up, only to immediately fall back to her cot in a groan of pain. Eleanor rushed over to her and embraced her, the two of them both falling into fits of crying.

The two of them decided to spend the night in the village, and Jack helped Ellie as she set about healing the wounded. Before long, Farlo and the other adventurers were on their feet again thanks to Eleanor's spells. Farlo and Jack met briefly with the Elders to reaffirm the deal they'd made before, before Farlo and the others departed to join the rest of the party at the destroyed gnoll camp at the base of the mountain. As they went to leave, Farlo pulled Jack aside for a moment.

"Thank you, Jack, for your help. Non-aggression between our company and the Iron Hounds has been a desire of mine for a long time, but has always eluded me. Thanks to what has been done here, I feel like we finally have shot at something different." He said, clapping Jack on the arm.

Jack nodded and shrugged.

"It was the least I could do. I never in a million years would have made it nearly this far without you and everyone else sticking your necks out for me." He glanced over at Eleanor, who was talking and laughing with Rose as they gathered food together for supper. "And I don't know what I would have done if I'd never gotten to see her again."

Farlo nodded knowingly, then added.

"I encourage you to remember my advice about both of them. It is better to have two close companions than two distant broken hearts. Remember that." He said, looking Jack hard in the eyes.

Jack's face turned red, and he nodded before clearing his throat and turning away. After a moment's awkward silence between them, Farlo spoke again.

"Well, I suppose it's best me and the others get moving so we make it to the base camp before nightfall. In the morning, we will be setting out for Darks.h.i.+re. Should you decide to travel with us, you are more than welcome. If I remember correctly, you still have Madeleine to retrieve from our camp." He said.

"We shall see you in the morning." Jack said. "And thank you again."

Farlo nodded and departed, and Jack returned to the two sisters as they called for him to help them.

The village, now free of Rawgh'faz and his supporters, seemed alight with energy. Groups of hunters returned from the outside carrying various kinds of wild game, as well as baskets full of fruits, nuts, mushrooms, roots, and other such things. As what felt like evening began to set in, the village square turned into a bit of a feast as meat was roasted on spits, forage was turned into stew, and ale was poured from large barrels that had been stowed away in one of the nearby huts.

Revelry continued well into the night, until Jack could barely keep his eyes open or his feet underneath him. Rose, for her part, didn't seem to be doing any better, and soon pa.s.sed out so that Jack had to carry her to bed. Only Eleanor still had some of her wits left about her, and she led the two of them to a small, circular hut perhaps twenty or thirty feet in diameter. It looked much the worse for wear, as if it had been neglected for a long while, but Ellie led them in without concern, and lit a fire in the hearth. The entire interior of the place was covered with all sorts of trinkets and baubles, as well as shelf after shelf of dried herbs and powders and all sorts of other weird things Jack didn't recognize. To one side of the small hut was a single bed, perhaps wide enough for two people sleeping closely, or three bodies crammed against each other. Jack set Rose down it after gently pulling off her boots.

"It's going to be a tight fit for three of us, but I think we'll manage." She said, looking over the bed, then gave Jack a wink. "I don't imagine you'll be complaining."

Jack felt the blood rush to his face, and he cleared his throat.

"So, whose hut is this? Does it belong to one of the gnolls who died in the fighting?" He asked.

"Actually, it belongs to a friend. Or, I suppose, belonged to a friend." Ellie said wistfully. "She was actually Rawgh'faz's mother. She helped me deal with my reality while Rawgh'faz had control over me. If it wasn't for her, then, well, we probably wouldn't be talking right now."

"I didn't know you were able to build relations.h.i.+ps with anyone here." Jack said, surprised.

Eleanor shook her head.

"It's not really like that. She was dead before I got here. But Rawgh'faz kept the spirits of both her and his younger brother in thrall, and while he tried to do the same to me, they helped me try and escape. I'm not really sure they even actually exist anymore, or if they do that they knew they were dead. But if it wasn't for them....." She trailed off, a complex collection of emotions marching across her face.

Jack took a step towards her, and placed a hand on her cheek as he looked into her eyes. There was warmth and happiness there. But there was also pain, and fear, and other emotions he couldn't read. He hesitated to imagine what she'd been through since she'd been held here, and while some part of him wanted to know, he knew that there was a chance he never would. And that was fine. She was going to need to heal, and he would be here for here, in any way he could.

"What is it?" She asked, seeming a little uncomfortable with how he was looking at her.

"I'm just having a hard time believing this is real... that you're actually here. I was so worried I would never see you again." He said. "Are... are you okay?"

Eleanor looked at him and smiled sadly.

"Yes, in time I think I will be. Just, no matter what you learn, promise me you won't think differently of me, okay?" She said.

"I could never think differently of you, Ellie. No matter what happened." He said.

And then, out of nowhere, he remembered the amulet around his neck. He pulled it from underneath his tunic and into the light. Eleanor look at it.

"Ooh, that's pretty. What is that?" She asked.

Jack unfastened it from around his neck.

"It's called an Amulet of Location. It allows a person attuned to it to know exactly where it, and anyone else attuned to it, is located at all times. And once per day, anyone attuned to it can scry the location of the person wearing the amulet to see the person and the world around them." He said, looking at it for a long moment. "I got it as a reward for something, and I haven't really know what to do with it besides wear it. But now I know what it's purpose is."

He took a step forward and draped the amulet around Eleanor's neck before fastening it behind her. Once that was done, he spoke again.

"I've already lost you once. If not for Frumpkin going out of his way to help me find you this time, there's a good chance you would have been lost to me forever. I never want to take that risk again. Once you have attuned to this, I will be able to find you, no matter how far away you are, and I will come save you, okay? You will never have to suffer like you have ever again. I promise."

Eleanor looked down at the amulet, and then back up at him. Her eyes were full of tears.

"Thank you...." She said, before throwing her arms around him.

Sleep, despite the incredibly cramped conditions, was easily found. When Jack awoke the next morning, he was surprised to see Rose and Eleanor had already risen and left the hut. He walked out to find the two of them in the village square, helping clean up from the night's revelry. From the looks of things, the cleanup was just about finished. Lacking anything better to do, he set to work helping them.

Once everything was done, he and the girls gathered what little they had to gather, and set about saying their goodbyes before they left. At Gragh'mah's insistence, however, they waited a little longer until a trio of gnolls came out from a nearby building, each of them carrying something different. The one that stopped in front of Jack dropped a large leather pack at his feet. When Jack opened it, he nearly choked. The large leather pack was nearly full of loot, including a giant heap of gold coins. He looked up at the gnoll for explanation, his jaw hanging slack.

"As promised, all wealth taken from the shaman and his followers is your company's right to claim. This is your share. Each of your two companions have chosen different rewards, in lieu of gold." He said, gesturing to the other two gnolls.

The gnoll in front of Rose unbound a large bundle to reveal a gorgeously filigreed breastplate made of a white-silver metal in-laid with gold. She took it from the villager reverently, before sliding it over herself and strapping it in place with leather bonds and metal clasps. She bowed her head gratefully, and the gnoll backed away.

The gnoll in front of Eleanor bore a long bundle wrapped in furs, and a leather satchel. Setting the satchel at her feet, it undid the cords around the bundle before removing the furs. It was the shaman's staff. Or, rather, it had been. It appeared to have been modified a bit to fit Eleanor's height, and the upended tree roots at the top now bore several charms and talismans hanging down from them, including a pair of crescent moons that looked a lot like earrings. The staff also bore a large collection of new rune carvings Jack didn't remember seeing before down its length. The fur, it turned out, was actually the new shoulder and neck lining of the freshly-cleaned green cloak Ellie had been wearing before. Closer inspection of the fur made him realize it had once belonged to a gnoll, or multiple gnolls. There, in the direct center of where the fur hung over Eleanor's back was a black patch of fur in a crescent moon shape that matched those dangling from the staff tip. Ellie drew the newly-modified cloak around herself for a moment, seeming to hug the fur into her, before she bent down and dug through the satchel in front of her. From where Jack stood, it appeared to be filled with books, rolls of parchment, and containers filled with all sorts of different things he couldn't make out. Whatever it was clearly all there, because she closed the bag with a satisfied expression and nodded to the gnoll.

Once each of them had been given their rewards, Gragh'mah nodded to each of them, dismissing them, and welcoming them to return any time they chose. They grabbed their loot, as well as the travel supplies they'd been provided, and set off up the ledge ramp. Jack couldn't fully remember how they'd come, but Eleanor somehow seemed to know the path perfectly, and soon the three of them were out of the cave and into the early morning suns.h.i.+ne.