Kara sees the light again, this time flashing and growing brighter. Then she hears chittering; she starts crawling on her side, away, “Be still food, we will make it fast.” She sees the swarm of glowing rats come around the corner into the small tunnel she’s in. They pause momentarily like they’re trying to assess her threat before attacking. There is a pulse of light, and she hears the command “Halt.” She doesn’t know why, but she stops, as commanded. The rats swarm over her, biting and clawing. She starts slapping and kicking, forgetting about all the pain. There is another pulse of many colors; for a split second, she forgets about the rats, where she is, and even who she is, not even caring about the pain, but comes back to her senses and starts thrashing, trying to get the rats off her.
Arden stops and then covers his torch. Ahead, he sees flashing lights, “Psychic rat swarm, and they’re attacking something.” He takes off at a full sprint, and Sylnoa follows, with Elra taking up the rear and losing ground on them. He slides to a stop at a smaller tunnel and sees the rats swarming something; then, he sees a hand weakly rise, trying to push them off. Sylnoa stops just in time to see Kara’s hand and a very faint aura. She fires a psychic hammer at the rats, causing them to open enough so they can clearly see Kara. She’s barely struggling. Sylnoa hears, “Our food, leave.” Arden feels a blast of air as Sylnoa flies past him, straight at the rats. She hits them again with another psychic hammer. Arden pulls his sword and charges behind her. The rats flee up the tunnel, and she manages to fire another psychic hammer at them.
She stops at Kara; she’s unconscious, covered in bites, cuts, and bruises, and one of her ankles is bent wrong, “Kara, Kara.” She doesn’t respond. Arden pushes her up the tunnel so he can kneel next to her. He says nothing, slides his arms under her, and starts walking out of the small tunnel on his knees, carrying her. Elra says, “Follow me.” She starts running with Arden and Sylnoa following.
Sasha sits in her favorite chair in her study, trying to focus on breathing and sweating profusely. The room wants to spin around every time she looks up, so she only looks at the ground. The guard comes running back in with Avvaran at his side. Avvaran tries a powerful restoration spell on her, but it does nothing.
Sylnoa looks back and sees something big coming up behind them fast. The creature's aura is pure hunger. She fires a psychic hammer at whatever it is, hearing in her mind, “Leave, food, hungry, mine.” She yells at Arden and Elra, “Something behind us.”
Avvaran asks, “Is there anything I can do, Sasha?” She barely shakes her head. " Don’t try to bring me back. Let me go.”
Elra points up at a ladder of rungs embedded in the wall. Sylnoa slides to a stop, holds out a hand toward the creature, and then says, “STOP!” Her voice echoes down the tunnel and sends ripples through the sewage. The creature stops. Arden looks at her. Sylnoa keeps her hand up, clearly straining, “Go. I’ve got this.” Arden starts up and rungs. The creature surges forward again. Sylnoa says, “I SAID STOP!” the shockwave from her voice jars debris from the ceiling and walls.
Elra goes up as the creature stops. She backs up a few steps so she’s under the vertical shaft. The creature breaks her hold again; she can see it clearly now; it looks like something from a nightmare, with three barbed tentacles protruding from its back, and the rest seems to be a toothy maw and legs. She summons the wind around her and shoots up the shaft. She comes up level with a small opening. Arden and Elra have stopped in, and then she feels the tentacle wrap around her leg.
They vanish from her sight as the thing snatches her back down. She hits hard, knocking the wind out of her. Another tentacle wraps around her waist, and the barbs bite in. It picks her up, pulling her toward its mouth. She screams, and then something heavy, very heavy, drops onto it, driving it into the floor of the tunnel. A sword slices off the tentacle wrapped around her waist. Arden points up, “Go!” She summons the wind and shoots up the shaft. Below, she hears battle, but only briefly, and then it goes quiet.
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Elra pours a potion into Kara’s mouth, and some of the bites heal, “We’re out of the anti-magic.” She casts a powerful healing spell. Kara’s aura grows brighter, and then a second aura appears. Sylnoa looks down the shaft and sees Arden’s face, which is almost in her face. She screams and jumps back, “Sorry.” Arden says, “I know I’m not pretty, but.” He moves over to Kara and casts heal. Her auras flare to life. She opens her eyes, “You should have just,, let,,, me,,,, die.” Then she closes her eyes.
Sasha sits back, taking a deep breath. The room stops spinning.
Arden turns to Sylnoa, taking her leg in his hand. She realizes then that she’s in a lot of pain. She grits her teeth. Arden casts a healing spell on her, and most of her wounds heal. She says, “I’ll survive. Thank you.” He smiles at her, “What you did down there was bravery. You should be proud of yourself, not only against that monster but against those psychic rats. You didn’t hesitate. You remind me so much of my daughter.” Sylnoa blushes and hopes no one can see, “What next?” Elra says, “I summon the Sisters, and we take her home.” Elra turns the ring over on her finger and concentrates on the sigil.
All the Sisters and Aran’s ring glow. They feel a pull. Xiam says, “Now we go, Sisters.” She looks at Aran, “And Brother.” Ava is out the door before she finishes the statement. Aran almost catches her as she jumps on the Chomasuke and bolts. Aran doesn’t bother properly mounting Fearless; he jumps, catches a foot in the stirrup, and runs full bore as he swings the rest of the way onto the saddle. Other Sisters leap onto waiting stalkers or bears and are right behind him.
Elra looks up at the heavy steel cover above them from the top of a short shaft. She sees it move a little, then it’s ripped up and goes clanging down the street. Rasome is looking down at them. Rasome and Shae slide down the shaft and into the small room. Elra sees Tai and Ari look down at them, “Let us know when everyone else is here.” Ari’s face appears, looking down, “We’re here.” Above, she hears bears and stalkers panting.
Shae says, “Shae has Kara.” She stands with Kara’s chin on her shoulder and an arm wrapped around her waist, as only a professional climber could do. She ascends the shaft and allows Ava to take her as she clears the opening. Rasome, Sylnoa, Elra, and finally, Arden climbs out.
Ava looks at Sylnoa, then grabs and kisses her, “Why did she do this, Syl?” Xaim casts invisibility on Kara, and then three Sisters suddenly look like her. Arden carries her, one of the Sisters that took on her appearance rides with Aran, one walks with Elra, and the third walks with Shae. Sylnoa climbs onto the saddle with Ava, “She thinks Sasha turned her away and doesn’t want her anymore. She thinks everyone wants to be rid of her. I think that mystic planted several suggestions in her mind.” Ava turns to Sylnoa, “Chomasuke said she saw them in Elysium, and then they disappeared.” Sylnoa hugs Ava, “Do you think she can show me those memories?” Ava asks Chomasuke if she can show Syl the memories of when she saw Kara and Sasha last. She answers, “Yes.” Ava nods to Syl.
When they return to the temple, Arden takes Kara into Elra’s room and puts her on the bed. Xiam ends the spell. Kara lays there, looking at him, expressionless. He looks down at her. She is covered in drying sewage. Xiam starts to cast prestidigitation on her, but Arden grabs her hand and shakes his head, “Water and towels only. That spell scares her. I’ll go get cleaned up myself.” He looks down at her, “I don’t know what’s going through your head, but know this. I love you, Kara Cinderblade; please don’t do anything like that again.” Her expression never changes. She watches him leave the room. Xiam cuts what’s left of the blanket off her. Ari and Xanathe soak some rags and start cleaning her. Kara watches them without saying a word. Elra sits down and pours a very large mug of dwarven ale.
Aran stands next to Ava and Sylnoa. Sylnoa looks at Chomasuke, “Please don’t try to eat me.” Chomasuke licks Sylnoa, then leaves her tongue hanging out, making a face like she wants to puke. Ava laughs, “You are pretty nasty smelling Syl.” She says, “You can wash me after I do this, Beautiful.” Aran says, “Syl, Beautiful, smooch, smooch.” Both look at him. Someone punches his shoulder. Rasome says, “Smooch, smooch.” While imitating the faces, he makes while making love.
Sylnoa says, “Tell her to only think about when she saw them in Elysium.” Ava nods and tells her, “Okay.” Syl presses her forehead against Chomasuke and immediately sees through her eyes that the colors seem strange. Her thought train is to play, hunt, and eat, Kara and Ava. She bounds through the jungle and breaks out onto the beach. She sees Kara and then Sasha standing just past her. Sasha looks at Chomasuke; then, a look of realization crosses her face. Sasha rushes toward Kara, reaching for her as Kara discorporates. Sasha goes to her knees where Kara was, screaming and crying, as Sasha discorporates. Sylnoa backs away, “That’s what she needs to see. Maybe this will bring her out of whatever pit she’s fallen into.” Sylnoa runs inside. Aran yells at them, “Bath, both of you stink.” Rasome throws an arm over his shoulder from his right, and Tai puts an arm around his waist. He smiles, “I stink, too?” Both Rasome and Tai say, “Bath.”
When Ava and Sylnoa get in, many sisters are in the bath. Ava sees the unhealed wounds on Sylnoa’s legs and waist. She says, “Let me heal those.” Sylnoa stops her, “I may need them.” Ava looks at her, confused. She says, “There’s more than one way to convey a message.”
