Tar’s Camp

Tar returned to his fire and rekindled it while the others gathered around the pool at the edge of his cave. He brought more timber than he usually would but the group would need the heat. He could feel the pull of the hammer in his pack but calmed himself. To many unknowns at present with the four stranger in his camp.

Not to mention an Arbiter of the Inquisition among them. No, he needed to bid his time. Get to know these individuals a bit more before making a decision. He walked around the camp offering to share the few rations he had with the group.

Gonyaul lowered down into a deep squat in front of the fire that Tar had prepared. His arms extended as if trying to reach for the warmth. His teeth stopped chattering after a little bit, as did his muscle spasming from the cold; the blue faded from his lips.

He politely declined the rations from Tar and mentioned they should be prioritized to Voah and Tarmen. He showed the man that Alexis and he had brought their own for their second spelunking attempt.

As the others began situating themselves Gonyaul watched with a very content smile. He knew he was very tired, but the cold water bath and the excitement of having them back had him experiencing a second wind.

Alexis declined politely as well, not wanting to drain Tar’s supplies. She might not have been too happy with him ditching them during the fight, but he had been willing to keep up his part of the deal without a fuss, and she did respect that.

She hoped that the other search teams were alright. If only there was a way to let everyone know they had found Tarmen and Voah so they wouldn’t have to take unnecessary risks.

Voah politely took some of the rations offered from Tar and thanked him. When she took a bite, it was mouth watering. Never had she thought she would feel that way about rations but after the taste of mushroom and bland bread, it made her legs weak. She sat next to the fire, warming up.

Gonyaul was covered in bandages and must have been hurting more than he let on. In the firelight, Voah could see the black and blue bruises on Gonyaul’s neck and throat. She knew those marks well and it made her think back to her first witch hunt. She had spent weeks hunting down the V’roni clan and learning about the Heralds of the Dark on the border of Kru’ll and the Forsaken Lands. When it came time to end the last of them, she cruelly throttled him to death in her raw vengeful duty, seeing his fear and watching as the life left him.

Afterwards, she was both thrilled and disgusted at herself, deciding then that a fast and clean kill was better. She wanted no doubts that what she was doing was right and from then until she reached Arcadia, she had none. But she would go on to use the technique for torture, it was very effective as all humans innately fear being without their life giving breath.

Her eyes traced the edges of the blade, reflecting orange off silver. She tried to change her mind to happier thoughts but none came so she opened up to the present moment.

Tar looked at the Arbiter and the strange youth that had accompanied him and Alexis into the mausoleum.

"That's a bad idea boy. Take your clothes off. Otherwise the cold of the night will kill you." He said passing him a blanket.

"You are an Arbiter of the Inquisition? He asked turning to Voah.

Gonyaul was instantly inclined to agree with him. He took the blanket and removed the wet clothing underneath. That was better. He had no cold weather mountain experience before.

He placed his wet clothes over to the side to dry and returned grateful to the fire.

“Thank you” he replied to Tar.

Voah turned to Tar. “Yes. Voah Sanhsuur. And I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage. I haven’t yet gotten your name, sir.”

"Name's Tar." He replied with a respectful nod.