Tivlyn knew the best hope of making sense of the drawings she'd found in the pack Vratni bought for her lay with Meltharian and Tayschren, so she handed over the papers to her elven companions, heart hammering in her chest as they looked the papers over, trying to decipher the runes. Tivlyn listened as Mel told her of the old man who'd mentioned ancient underground passage ways and the runes around Ost Guruth's market square that pointed the way to these passages, if one knew how to look.
Her attention was briefly drawn to Wittkun as he hollared down the well in the square, then she turned back to the old man Mel had been talking to as he spoke of the runes being guides left by the old builders; that the runes helped travellers in need during times of war, when entry into the fort was shut, and in turn they kept the fort stocked during siege. He also spoke a warning, that some passages lead to places best left alone.
Tivlyn looked around the market, trying to spot any runes as she thanked the old man quietly, but left most of the talking to the others in her group now, mentally exhausted from her exchange with Captain Rolan and Sergeant Garren, for she had been fighting with every ounce of will power she had not to let her temper flare out of control and cause her to lash out at Garren more than she had.
She understood his distrust of them, maddening as it was. Trouble followed them like a hungry warg hunting a meal. What happened to the guard, if it was Beak Beard and the spiders that killed him, no doubt it was because the group had returned to Ost Guruth, and guilt mixed in with Tivlyn's frustration.
Damn and blast, she wished she had asked the guards at the gate if they knew who Beak Beard was when he had first appeared and spoke of Amon Ros, of treasure and spiders!! She told herself she couldn't be partaking in any more of Feay's pain numbing mushrooms, that little sliver the hobbit had given her had numbed her senses as well. Tivlyn shouldn't have asked for any.
She had to do better, be more careful and sensible.
Tivlyn breathed a sigh of relief as Meltharian solved the puzzle of Vratni's rune drawings, Mel realizing that they spelt out Harloeg, though worry soon settled back on Tivlyn's mind as she tugged on the pack Vratni bought her, wanting to keep it close.
Where was Vratni? Was he all right? had he left or been taken? Was he where the runes pointed??
Harloeg.
They would surely have to go, but what path to take there??
Perhaps Feay and Hopwe would supply the answer, Meltharian asking for Feay's assistance in finding the way to the passage that the runes led to.
Tivlyn wasn't prepared for how they found that way. Blazes, one would think she would be used to these strange, magical things by now!!
She didn't know whether it was Feay or Hopwe that triggered it...Perhaps both working together. One moment both hobbit and bunny were looking at a rune, Hopwe nosing at it, then...
Tivlyn's stomach clenched as faintly glowing threads suddenly appeared and laced themselves across the market square from rune to rune. She took a step forward, instinct pulling her closer to her friends, hand going for hilt of axe and hammer but gripping nothing. Fear spiked up at that, when she remembered she was without weapons, and she took a few calming breaths. She could defend her friends and herself without weapons if needed, against the militia anyway, possibly get a sword away from one of them. All ready her gaze was darting about, taking stock of things she could try to make a dash towards to use in defense.
But magic...This magic frightened her. She felt powerless against it. She knew nothing of such things.
Her eyes darted to the well, then to the townsfolk, then to the grim militia drawing weapons, then back to her companions. She could feel her heartbeat pounding in her ears, a rising mixture of dread and protective instinct. The moment the soldiers tensions grew, so did her own tensions grow, and she was ready to plant herself as a tower between blade and friend.
She moved as Feay moved towards the well, following her little hobbit friend and standing like a shield behind her. Tivlyn sent a fretful gaze toward Wittkun briefly, worried on both his state of mind and his wounds before she glanced to Sergeant Garren, narrowing her eyes, fearing him hurting her companions most of all right now, though she really should have been keeping an eye on Feay.
Suddenly Feay and Hopwe were moving away from the well, Feay grabbing the edge of Tiv's tunic and tugging her along too without a word, something wild in her eyes.
"Feay, what-"
The world tore apart beneath Tivlyn’s boots. One moment she was shielding her face from a rain of fire and stone, the source a huge blast from the well, puzzling over why there was no pain, like there was an invisible dome around her, the next the ground gave way with a groan like some great beast unhinging its jaws. Her stomach lurched as her feet slipped, pebbles skittering under her feet, the rough stones scraping her palms as she reached for anything to stop her fall.
But there was nothing.
She fell.
The roar of the choas above faded into a muffled, distant thunder as the shadow and debris swallowed her. The heat gave way to an eerie chill, her skin prickling from the sudden change. Around her, others plummeted too; her companions.
Her heart seized.
Please let them be safe. Let them land safe!!
She tried to twist, to turn her body, desperate to see how far they were falling, but the darkness was thick, swallowing sound and sight. Only the faintest glow pulsed around them, a soft, strange warmth that she knew not where it came from, like a mother’s hand cupping them all as they fell. It wasn’t enough to see by, but she could feel it holding them, slowing the plunge.
She clenched her teeth, forcing down her rising panic. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. What a fool she'd been to think herself capable. Everything had gone from bad to worse, and now the world was breaking apart beneath them AGAIN, they were falling into darkness AGAIN, one friend missing, the others in peril.
The glow pulsed again, stronger this time, wrapping around her like a soft blanket. The speed of her fall slowed. Her breath came in sharp gasps as she finally sensed the end drawing closer; a faint hint of ground below.
Tivlyn braced herself.
The fall slowed at the last moment, as though invisible hands cupped them gently before the final drop. She hit the ground hard, but not crippling. She gasped in the cold, damp air.
Darkness loomed around them; deep, heavy, unnatural. The only light came from far above, and a faint, pulsing glow around them that Tivlyn didn't know the source of yet.
She scrubbed her hands over her face, fighting the urge to scream out her frustration and fears. She pushed that all down, for now wasn't the time for such things. Get up, she told herself. Get up and check on your friends. Taking a deep breath, Tivlyn rolled onto her stomach, getting on her hands and knees before rising slowly to her feet.
