The crew sets out, but there's trouble. A fight ensues with a mighty beast and Paultin has a bad idea. It's a typical day. On the plus side? Paultin finally gets some wine.

Chapter Text

The sun rose quicker than Paultin noticed, it only caught his attention when he heard rustling. He blinked, coming back to himself, but remained still with ears perked to listen. There was a slight breeze that ruffled the leaves of the trees around them. The morning birds chirping and whistling away as they called to each other and begun their songs. Over to his side, the crackling fire had died down, giving low pops occasionally as it was left neglected. In the same direction, Waffles hooted gently as she grew restless. He heard someone shush her then stand. He knew it was Evelyn, risen from her slumber like the sun itself. She hummed, a hymn presumably, as she did every morning, only pausing to quiet Waffles. Her joints creaked as she stretched her limbs, another habit. The rising dawn’s light turned her hair to golden spun thread. Her eyes sparkled in the light and her face was shining. She was impossibly brilliant and he couldn’t look at her for too long. It was like staring into the sun. She patted her clothes, trying to loosen the dirt from her cloak, before she shuffled toward him. Hearing her steps, he shut his eyes quickly and did his best attempt at faking slumber as she came over to his bed.

“Good mornin’, Simon,” she whispered, her voice a hair away from him. “Protecting your dad? Good boy.”

He didn’t flinch when gentle wooden fingers brushed astray hair from his forehead, a feather touch of her hand on his cheek.

“Good mornin’, sweet Paultin.” She sighed longingly before she pulled away and went off to pray as per her routine.

Every morning, she was the first to rise. Every morning, she hummed and stretched, talking lowly to Waffles and Simon. The Ring of Winter he bared on his finger would call to him then, violently trying take control of his body, but Evelyn’s touch would drive it away each time. He always wondered, as she drew away, if she knew the morning was when the ring tried to control him. Every morning, she came to his side, touched his face and wished him a good morning. He wondered if she knew he was awake when she came, if that’s why she did it. He never mentioned it.

Every morning, he would listen as she murmured to her prayers to Lathander. She would sing quietly, and horribly off key, as she started their breakfast. He would listen for Diath’s steps as he returned for walking the perimeter, but he’d never hear him until Evelyn wished him good morning much too loudly. The ruckus of Diath and Evelyn fumbling to make food would rise an exasperated groan from Strix as they woke her. She’d get up begrudgingly and fuss about how they’d completely messed up their food. Evelyn would get sent off to feed Waffles, the owlbear hooting playfully, and for a little while it would be quiet as Diath and Strix sat in comfortable, silent companionship. The mornings that followed good nights, they’d talk and tease each other as their breakfast cooked. The savory smell of eggs or, less often, the sweet aroma of waffles and maple syrup, would drift through the air and make his stomach growl. Once more, as if she hadn’t before, Evelyn would come to his side and announce that it was his time to get up, that there was breakfast, but he’d grumble for five more minutes and she’d laugh every time. They all would start eating by the time he got up, all sat around the fire waiting for him to fill the last opening and he would. A plate of food would get pushed into his hand and he’d eat as they chit chatted. Diath would talk about their progress to the next town. Evelyn would give a sermon about the light of Lathander. Strix would shriek and complain before giving up and letting the paladin finish. He would eat. He would drink. They all would get up and continue on.

This morning was no different from their routine.

When they gathered together for breakfast, Strix pushed a plate of eggs into his hand. He took it gratefully, but she didn’t let go immediately, pulling his eyes up to her face in confusion. She held out her hand and he raised his to take the item she offered. When she dropped the protective ring she had been wearing into his hand, he blinked, frowning up at her. She was pale, but had a lot of dirt on her, which was a good sign for Strix. He couldn’t see any place where her flesh had started to decay, wasn’t sure she had experienced that at all yet considering how her and Diath had received the protection of the rings far before he had, but she wore her big bushy cloak so he couldn’t tell for sure. She met his eyes with a meaningful gaze, the faint green of her eyes sweeping down his neck and daring him to argue with her. He put the ring on with a roll of his eyes, but didn’t protest. She looked pleased and left him to his breakfast. Immediately, he felt much better. His body didn’t actively hurt and he could move without wincing. When he looked down at his hands, the flesh of his fingertips looked about ready to fall away, but they didn’t hurt so bad now with the ring. Even so, he’d have to wrap them later so he could play. He scratched at his neck and it ached, but it didn’t seem like the flesh was going so fall off. He’d have to wrap that up as well, at least so Evelyn would stop staring guiltily at it. Evelyn and Strix settled into their usual back and forth about Lathander and he relaxed with his food. When he stood to offer Waffles the remnants of his breakfast, his joints ached, but it was far more manageable now. The owlbear had eagerly swallowed up his scraps, hooting happily and nudging him with her head. He patted her head, cooing back at her, before turning back toward the group.

He caught Diath’s gaze for a split second. The blue of his eyes warred between wanting to dissect him and wanting to apologize, and Paultin glanced away when he couldn’t take their stare anymore. Strix and Evelyn quieted, but weren’t looking at him, rather murmured to each other.

There was a fist in his throat that he forcefully swallowed as he left to gather his things. He was unfortunately deprived of his wine supply, so he set about bandaging himself instead as the other’s finished and prepared to leave. Simon was by his side, leaving for only a moment to grab something from under the blankets and returning with the decrepit, dismembered hand that he’d been carrying since saving Evelyn. The construct poked at its fingers and the hand poked playfully back before Simon held it out for Paultin.

“Are… Are you offering me a hand?” Paultin grinned proudly at his joke, but Simon looked unamused, nodding his head a single time.

When Paultin presented his elbow to the hand, it jumped from Simon onto his arm. It clambered up onto his shoulder and perched there as it usually did. “Good boy,” he murmured as he finished with the bandages, pressing at the tips of his fingers in a test. Humming at the slight ache, he grasped his mandolin and played a couple chords. It wasn’t the best feeling, but it would have to do. He laid the instrument down next to his backpack with great care, silently apologizing for tossing it down last night, and started to fold up his bed.

“Heard you playin’ just now,” Evelyn said behind him and he wondered how she’d snuck up on him.

He glanced over his shoulder and she moved in closer, her hands clasped behind her back. The feathers on her boots flapped anxiously. She smiled at him. “Huh? Oh, uh, I was just, uh, making sure it was in tune. S’very important.”

She nodded seriously. “Right. You’re so smart, Paultin!”

He pulled his eyes back to the task of folding his blankets up. He couldn’t look at her when she gazed at him with such affection and pride.

“Anyway, we’re leaving soon and I was just wonderin’ if you could play a song for me… Well, I mean, I know you could, but you don’t have to. See, I just like hearin’ you play and travellin’ is so boring.” She rambled, the optimism in her voice trying to mask her uncertainty. “I just thought it’d be nice, you know? I know we all miss your music, so-

“Sure,” he interrupted. It came off harsher than he wanted, blame sobriety, so he gave her a smile and she wasn’t bothered at all. “Can do.”

She lit up like a firework, squeezing her hands together at her chest like he had just given her a gift on Christmas. “Oh, wonderful! I’m sure everyone’ll like that!” She fluttered up and away toward her belonging with extra haste to put them away.

He released his breath finally and stuffed his things away. When he shrugged on his pack and slung his mandolin across his shoulders, the other were ready to set out. The fire had been extinguished, all bed rolls picked up, the extra things they couldn’t carry given to Waffles. Diath took account of every last item and party member then set out ahead, directing them down the path. Strix and Waffles followed closely beside their leader, Evelyn fluttering up behind them with her winged boots, which left Paultin and Simon to bring up the rear. He grumbled to himself and took Simon’s hand. They started down the path through the trees in a quick pace, Diath muttering about the clouds over them and wanting to get to town soon. They all soon fell into silence as they trotted on, three pairs of wary eyes on the jungle around them. Evelyn, however, paid no mind, as comfortable anywhere as she would be in her own home. About an hour into their walk, she paused, waiting back for him to catch up so she could flutter beside him. When he lifted a brow at her, she smiled. He took this as his cue to pull out his instrument. Sighing, he hefted Simon up into his arms and plopped him down on Waffles’ butt, so he could keep an eye on his son. Simon’s head swirled around, body facing forward, and watched Paultin thumb the strings of his mandolin. Absolutely delighted, Evelyn flew up and settled in behind Simon on Waffles, facing backwards to watch Paultin as well. He wondered if Evelyn’s head could spin around like the Exorcist too. He did his best to avoid Evelyn’s beaming smile as he picked up a sweet tune. The silent mood around them lessened slightly as the music brought peace to the air. Even he felt better with the distraction.

“By the light of Lathander,” Evelyn boomed when he finished the song, “that was just the best! Wasn’t it, Strix? Just wonderful!”

Beside Diath, Strix scuffled along looking like a walking lint roller, but glanced over her shoulder to roll her eyes at Evelyn. “Yes, Evelyn.” She sent him a small smile. “It was very nice, Paultin.”

He grinned. “Heh, thanks.”

“That’s right!” Evelyn nodded with so much approval no one could have changed her mind if they tried. “Diath,” she called, “wasn’t Paultin’s song the best?”

Paultin grimaced, but Diath didn’t looked back, eyes attentive to the path ahead. “It always is, Evie,” he said sincerely.

He bit the inside of his cheek and started another song before anything more could be said. It sounded like Evelyn had heard the argument and was trying to problem solve or make them reconcile. Whatever she was trying to do wasn’t going to work, he knew. He frowned to himself, if she had heard, being as inattentive as she was, Strix mostly likely had as well. Great. The last thing he wanted was to be on the flaming end of a fireball.

After about four hours of walking, with small intervals of playing, Paultin’s feet ached with every step. Strix had taken to riding upon Waffles, sometimes coercing Diath to take a turn as well. He’d turned down her offer a couple times, but he regretted it now. He pondered that if they didn’t stop the death curse, the flesh of his feet was going to decay and slip apart, but the thought was horrifying. He grimaced inwardly, turning his gaze away from the path and looking around the jungle which aimed to swallow them.

He was the only one to notice the black smoke billowing up to the sky. The smoke plumed high enough in the distance for him to see over the tallest trees. It was close enough to be concerning and he had the feeling that, in a moist place such as Chult, forest fires weren’t a natural occurrence. That’s probably bad.

“Huh…” His brows furrowed as he stopped mid step to look toward the fire. “Hey, guys,” he hesitantly called to his friends.

When everyone paused to see what the hold up was, he glanced at them before pointing unsurely at the rising smoke. “That doesn’t look good.”

Every head followed his finger then subsequently looked to Diath.

“That’s not far from town,” Diath said. “Could be bad news.”

“Oh, great, that’s great! That’s just what we need right now! More bad news!” Strix complained, throwing her hands up. With a defeated sigh, she fell in the dirt and asked, “We’re gonna check it out, aren’t we? I mean, of course we are. Goddammit.” She grumbled into her sleeves.

“Well, I think we ought to! Maybe it’s just someone having a good ol’ bonfire! I just love those, they’re so fun!” Evelyn smiled. Clearly, they were decided.

“Ooooh noooo,” Strix cried.

“It could be trouble,” Diath considered, “but if someone needs help, we should check it out. If it looks like too much we can just get back to town.” He sealed their decision with a nod. “Who knows? Maybe it is a bonfire.”

“It’s not!” Strix exclaimed, pulling at her hair.

Evelyn gave a delighted grin. “That’s the right attitude, Diath!”

“Great,” Paultin drawled. He glanced from the party back to the smoke uneasily. It could be anything: more dabbing goblins, soul mongers, a huge red dragon that was definitely not coming….

We don’t clean up our messes very well.

Strix huffed, compulsively stuffing her hands into her robes and pulling out random items. “I’m just letting everyone know right now that this is a bad idea!”

Paultin was on her side on this one. Diath shrugged like he knew, but couldn’t do anything about it, or wouldn't.

“Alright then, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Evelyn zoomed off ahead, down a smaller path, toward the smoke and leaving everyone to run along behind.

“Here we fucking go,” he muttered.

He brushed past where Diath was pulling Strix off the ground and jogged to keep up with Evelyn as she blew down the narrower path leading deeper into the jungle. They were close enough to town now that they wouldn’t, hopefully, get lost on their sidetrack. Undoubtedly, Diath was aware of where they were headed verses where their destination was and Paultin trusted him.

As they drew near, the smell of smoke wafted through the air, making his lungs and throat itch. He followed Evelyn as she zigzagged through the trees, scrambling to keep up when they heard shouts in the distance. Ahead, the trees broke into a clearing covered in dark smoke. The source was a raging fire that had all but consumed a small field of crops. There was a two story hut of straw and clay next to the field, well in danger of catching fire. A line of flames lead from what was now a crisp, black garden to a man, frantically waving a burning log like a torch. It seemed that in his panicked state, he had perhaps lit his own crops aflame by accident. He was a short man, elderly by the look of his long, frizzy, white beard. He stood protectively over a fallen figure, waving his arms and shouting. The figure at his feet appeared to be unconscious. He was tall and lanky, but seemingly just as old as the other man. Paultin couldn’t tell if he was alive or not.

That’s bad.

“Back! Back! Get outta here, ya vile beast!” The man with the torch screamed in gruff voice.

Paultin spotted the abomination the man was attempting to fend off.

It was a ginormous, quadrupedal monstrosity that gave a high, earsplitting roar and several grating hisses all at the same time. Its mud caked legs were as thick as tree trunks with long claws that dug into the earth like roots. It was muscled in a way that was grotesque, like its skin was too tight. Its massive body was leaning back as if to pounce, razor claws pushing the beast up. The humongous leopard’s maw was twisted back in a snarl as it roared, ugly teeth bared in a threat. From its shoulders protruded six fat, black serpents with long venomous teeth. Each snake moved of its own accord, hissing and twisting. It moved back and forth, low to the ground, like a predator. It was incredibly intimidating and it’s posture was definitely threatening.

“Oh, that’s worse.”

Paultin was immensely impressed by the torch wielding man and horrified by the catlike creature.

“I said, get outta here!” He yelled again, throwing his arms over his head with flaming log in hand. He was attempting to appear larger, trying to scare back the monster, hoping it would flee.

The beast, unwilling to give up its meal, looked at the man with wild eyes and a large paw shot out to bat at the man like a cat toy. The man went tumbling to the side, rolling in the dirt and losing his torch, but he clambered to his feet quickly, never looking away from the leopard. A couple of the snake heads shot out to snap at him, but missed by the scruff of the man’s beard.

“That all ya fucking got?!” He taunted.

Diath dashed by him. “Evelyn, wait-!”

Ahead of him, Evelyn zoomed out into the battle without hesitation, her battle axe in hand. She gave a mighty battle cry and flew above the beast. Each head of the snakes immediately swung around and took notice of her, forked tongues lapping at the air as they inspected their new food. The monster took notice too, taking its glowing, green eyes off the old man to growl up at Evelyn before glancing around the field. It made eye contact with each of the new arrivals. Paultin’s hair stood on end when it looked at him hungrily, maw gaping with drool. It shuffled anxiously like a cornered animal. Strix blew by him on her broom, shrieking Evelyn’s name as she followed the paladin into the air. Paultin saw Diath pulling on the unconscious man without avail. He knew Diath wouldn’t give the beast behind him even a glance before he saved the man, but the man was much taller than Diath and wouldn’t be moved without help. He darted toward Diath, clasped the other arm of the unconscious man, and pulled with all his might. Diath muttered his thanks as they tugged the man as far from the leopard as they could. The multi-headed creature was watching them snag its dinner, the serpent heads glancing around to take in the sudden number of enemies that had appeared.

“The light commands you, abomination!” Evelyn hollered.

In a blazing glory, she hefted her battle axe over her head and swung down at one of the snake heads. The snake shrieked in agony as her axe smashed its head, rearing back as her second attack narrowly missed it. The bloodied snake tensed and stayed back as the other snakes darted for Evelyn. The paladin dodged each attack but the last, which had caught her foot. With its jaw closed around Evelyn’s ankle, making her flail wildly in the air, the head whipped around in a flash, slamming Evelyn into the ground beside the large leg of the leopard.

Dirt flew up around Evelyn and she groaned, “That’s not very nice!”

Next to him, Diath checked the man over. He was older, like the other, with a short, kind face. A human. He had a snowy, short beard, clipped neatly to follow his jaw. His salt and pepper hair was tied into bun on the back of his head, which was loose and askew, likely from the commotion. He was dressed in brown cloth, farmer’s garb, with an elegant gold chain around his neck. There was a bow and quiver slung across his back. He was relatively unharmed, but was...asleep?

“Strix,” Diath hollered, “What is that thing?!”

“It’s a kamadan! Agh! They’re bad! Like really bad! Like not going to be our pet bad!” Strix shrieked from her broom.

“Aw, I think it’s kinda cute,” he chuckled. “We can’t keep it?”

“No, Paultin! It’s bad! It’s a very bad time!” Strix screamed, waving her arms wildly.

The man that had been waving the torch ran toward them, falling to his knees beside the unconscious man. “Lee! Lee! Ar’ ya alright?” He gathered the unconscious man, Lee, apparently, into his arms and cradled him, gently touching his hand to his face. “Wake up!”

The man who had joined them was burlier than Lee, though he looked like a half elf, with a scar across his cheek that disappeared into the crazy, curly mess that was the man’s beard. He wore similar garb as Lee, a leather armored vest over his shirt and a belt of pouches around his waist. He looked to have been in a few battles, perhaps was a retired soldier. Around his neck was the same golden chain, too. His brown eyes stared down in terror at Lee before looking to Diath with an unreadable expression.

“Who ar’ ya, crazy people?”

Diath raised one hand to show he meant no harm. He spoke clearly with command, “We saw the smoke and came to help. Just stay with him for now and we’ll take care of this.”

When the man nodded, Diath turned his attention to Paultin with that same calculated, cunning glint in his eyes. “We’re gonna need a thunderwave.”

Paultin smirked, “I thought you’d never ask!”

The rogue couldn’t suppress a grin as he stood and Paultin watched as he dashed off and disappeared into the trees. From above, Strix summoned a huge plume of fire to blow down on the kamadan. Despite its size, the oversized leopard managed to dodge most of the flames. A few of its horrendous looking snake heads sizzled, its fur blackened and smoking, but for the most part it looked undamaged. Off to the side, he could see Evelyn pulling herself of the ground and beating the dirt from her clothes. Diath was nowhere to be seen, but Paultin knew he had likely snuck around to the creatures flank. The kamadan trampled over crops, all of its heads roaring furiously. They almost had it backed against the tree line, surrounded.

When he stepped up as close as he dared, he swung his mandolin around into his arms. The mouth of the great creature drooled as it roared and he tried not to think about becoming Meow Mix. “Here, kitty, kitty, kitty!”

The cat head jerked to focus on him just as he strummed his mandolin. The air rippled with electricity, cracked, and burst. The kamadan yelped, all the serpent heads snapping back as the beast got an electrified gust to the face. The leopard stumbled back, hurt and frazzled, and clawed at the ground to get back on its feet. A couple of the cobra heads dangled loosely over its neck. Abruptly, Diath’s form shot out of the trees behind the beast, leaping over its body with daggers in hand. As he leapt over the beast, his daggers cut the bodies of two serpents in half, quick and clean, before Diath sprinted up and over the leopard’s head back down to the ground. Dazed, the two snakes head didn’t even notice Diath before they were no longer connected to the body of the leopard.

Paultin whistled. “That was fucking Naruto, dude.”

Arrows whistled overhead and stuck into the kamadan with thuds.

If it could look angier, it did.

Backed against the trees with only one snake head left, the bloody kamadan roared loud enough to make Paultin’s ears pop. He watched as a purple cloud of poison came from within its throat and barrelled at them. His threw his arms around his face to protect himself and felt his eyes water. He barely made it in time, but was left coughing and choking on it, and a wave of exhaustion crashed over him. He felt like consciousness was draining out of him. His body sagged and begged to lay down to fall asleep right there, but he managed to fight the effect off. Suppressing a yawn, he looked for his friends. Evelyn didn’t look the slightest bothered. Strix wasn’t so lucky and she started to drop like a stone toward the ground. Diath had also fought the effects and with cheetah like reflexes managed to catch Strix, throwing himself under her like a safety net. Paultin could hear all the air whoosh out of his lungs, maybe even ribs crack, but Diath held onto Strix with a death grip and didn’t let go when they settled in the dirt.

“Paultin-!”

He whirled back to the kamadan just in time to watch it lunge at him. Like any animal backed into a corner, it thrashed and struck out at anything near. A claw swiped at him and only nicked him when he was able to dodge thanks to Evelyn’s warning. The teeth of the leopard’s maw, however, caught him off guard. The jagged, razor like teeth clamped down onto his side and pierced through his flesh like daggers. He screamed as the long teeth bite into his skin and yanked at his ribs before it tossed him away. He went skidding across the dirt and was unable to catch his breath. It felt as if the teeth had hooked into ribs and ripped them out of place. Agony ripped through his body as he hunched, cradling his wound and fingering the area to assess the damage. With incredible luck, his armor had taken most of the damage. The several inch long teeth had gripped mostly to the leather, which was left an awful mess, but had torn through enough to give him a row of two inch deep dental imprints. It was too hard for him to guess the full impact of the damage, but it was agonizing and gushing blood so he figured it was suboptimal. Maybe it just felt worse than it was? Trying to focus on not being the kamadan’s next Fancy Feast meal, his eyes searched for the beast and he pushed himself up.

“Ow.”

“Don’t! Hurt! My! Friends!” Evelyn screamed, bringing her axe down on the kamadan’s head.

The monster’s head split with a crack and blood sprayed everywhere. It roared it pain, but wasn’t quite dead yet. More arrows shot overhead and into the beast, but it hardly seemed to notice them. Evelyn brought her axe down again, lodging it into the big cat’s shoulder. It turned on her absolutely furious, green eyes burning like acid. Suddenly, the cat sat back, muscles rolling as it tensed up. Evelyn, move-! It shot up off the ground like a cannon and snatched Evelyn out of the air like a bird. It fell awkwardly back to the earth, hurt, but had caught its prey in its teeth. Like a doll, the paladin was thrashed around in the beast’s maw before it slammed her down and ripped at her construct body with its claws. It beat at Evelyn until it was satisfied and hit her away. She skidded across the scorched ground, tumbling to a stop, and didn’t immediately bounce up.

She’s fine.

Paultin saw gold splattered on the kamadan’s arms and the air in his lungs was torn out of his chest.

No.

He grit his teeth in rage and stumbled to his feet, eyes glaring dangerously at the beast as it stalked toward Diath and Strix, who were still down.

No. No, no, no nonono-!

Clutching his side, he heaved a smokey lungful of air and yelled. “Hey, Garfield!” This is such a bad idea.

The cat’s head twisted around, eyes sizing him up. He shouted, begging for its attention. That thing wasn’t going near his friends. That thing wasn’t going to touch them. He was going to kill it, right here and now. It growled at him, feet trotting, but obviously not yet threatened by his presence. He snarled back at it and strode up into its range. That got its attention.

He roared murderously, getting into its space. “You and me, kitty! Let’s go! I’m going to skin you alive!”

The kamadan’s body rippled, preparing to lunge at him. It opened its maw filled with bloody and yellowed teeth, ready to tear into him once more.

With a burning glower, Paultin lifted his red stained hand from his wound toward the monster. There was a spark of blue in his eyes and the air split. A blast of intense cold torn from his hand, shooting into the beast. Ice webbed across the cat’s body, effectively freezing the beast’s upcoming attack. It howled and screamed, twisting away from the icy blast, as its skin froze and broke apart, chunks of its face falling away. It stumbled back from him with a agonized roar.

From behind, Evelyn zoomed into the air, looking rough with a bit a gold splattered from where the kamadan’s teeth had scratched her up. Seeing her, brighter than the sun in the sky, Paultin sighed with relief, and plopped on the ground. The paladin had a giant, flaming sword in hand that she swung mightily and brought it upon the cat’s head. The beast shuddered and collapsed in a bloody heap both burnt and frozen.

As the dust settled, Evelyn braced her foot against the head of the kamadan, tearing her battle axe from its shoulder with a triumphant harumph. She didn’t celebrate her victory long before she slung the axe over her back and looked around frantically. When she found his eyes, he could see her face twist in worry and she sprinted for him. Her hair was a bit of mess, dirt and guck all over her face, her face twisted up in the same way Diath’s did, but she was shining and beautiful as always.

“Paultin!” She dropped down too close by his side, eyes following the blood and immediately laying her hands on his side. “Oh, Lathander, may your light come into Paultin and heal his injuries,” she prayed.

“S’just a flesh wound,” he murmured.

The agony subsided as Evelyn’s touch filled him with light and warmth. He let his hands fall from cradling the injury, closing his eyes for a moment to bask in her healing touch. Everything’s fine. We’re fine. With her healing, he managed a deep breath and he felt immensely better. When she finished, she touched his shoulder and they got up to their feet.

“Thanks, Evelyn.” He looked down at his blood soaked clothes with a huff. Maybe Strix could fix them, he really liked this shirt.

Evelyn beamed at him and the worry fell away from her face. “Well, of course, Paultin! You’re alright?”

He nodded and looked over her toward Strix and Diath, ignoring the way his heart beat faster every second her hand lingered on his shoulder. Strix was awake now, yelling and screeching as she pulled things from her robe to throw at Diath. Diath took several frogs to the face without flinching, but was cradling his chest in a way that confirmed Paultin’s earlier suspicions. Despite the injuries from using himself as a human safety net, he didn’t seem to be in much pain, his eyes shifting from the dead kamadan to inspect his friends. Avoiding Diath’s all knowing gaze, Paultin swallowed, taking a moment to look at the ground to regain his normal apathetic demeanor and snuff out the burning anger that swelled anytime he glanced at the defeated kamadan.

Evelyn took notice of their other companions, calling, “Oh, Diath! I’ll be right there!” She glanced back to him, sparkling eyes looking over him once more before she let go and fluttered over.

Her flying boots carried her over toward Diath and he stood to greet her, though he was crooked and nursing his chest. As she drew near, he said something under his breath that Paultin couldn’t hear, but Diath gestured vaguely in his direction and Evelyn nodded eagerly. When he looked her over as well, Diath’s expression smoothed out in relief and he gave a twitch of a smile. The paladin placed a glowing hand on Diath’s chest, saying a prayer, and pulling away. The rogue gave her his thanks, shoulders settling back and his chest puffing out. Meanwhile, Strix had gotten up with a huff and made her way over to the dead kamadan and poked its head with her staff. Assured it was dead, she pulled its mouth open and cut its tongue free. It was really gross, but typical for Strix, so he looked away. Off to the side, the two men grasped at each other, touching hands and faces, as they inspected each other. Lee, the man with the bow in hand, was talking reassuringly to the other, who sighed, but seemed comforted. Lee bent down slightly and brushed his lips on the shorter man’s forehead in a way that was deeply affection. The other, noticing the eyes on them, blushed and straightened, taking Lee’s hand and stepping towards them.

“Friend,” he said looking to Paultin, “Ar’ ya hurt?”

Paultin blinked, looking down at his red soaked shirt. “Nah. Man, this was my favorite shirt though....”

With a wave of a blood soaked hand, Strix’s magic cleaned the blood from his shirt away. She then stuffed the kamadan’s tongue into her robes somewhere.

“Ah, thanks.”

“Very well,” the man nodded, pulling up his belt and looking to Diath, who had stepped forward.

“My friends, thank you.” Pulling his bow around his head, Lee smiled warmly, stepping toward Diath and taking his hand in both of his to give it an appreciative shake. “I’m Lemon Dorfinas and the brute over there is Garik Dorfinas.”

“Your name is Lemon? And his is… Garik?”

Strix elbowed him.

“Diath Woodrow. These are my friends: Strix, Evelyn, and Paultin.” He gestured to them when Lemon released his hand to eagerly shake Evelyn’s hand.

“Evelyn Avalona Helvig Marthain, servant of the morning lord, Lathander, at your service.” Evelyn beamed, bowing slightly. “I am just so delighted to make y’all’s acquaintance!”

Strix offered her bloody hand to Lemon, who didn’t take it, but he smiled very appreciatively. Strix just shrugged. Evelyn all but jumped into Paultin’s side when the man shook his hand.

“Oh, my new friends, aren’t y’all in for a treat! This man here is Paultin Seppa!” Evelyn exclaimed, catching Lemon’s attention. “He is just the best musician around! He’s on his Drunk and Dying Tour right now and you wouldn’t believe it, but we’ve been all around for his shows!”

Lemon seemed delighted, eyes lighting up. “Oh my! I had no clue! How wonderful!” He turned to the half elf. “Garik, dear, did you hear that? A famous musician!”

Garik smiled at Lemon then looked to Diath. “Y’all certainly an odd bunch, aren’t ya?”

Diath shrugged and sighed with affectionate annoyance, “You have no idea.”

“We most certainly must thank you! The vile creature would’ve eaten us up for sure if you folks hadn’t come!” Lemon drifted by to Garik’s side.

“That’s not necessary,” Diath dismissed, “We just came to help.”

“I mean… it’s a little necessary,” he muttered to himself and Strix elbowed him again.

After a pause, Lemon clasped his hands. “Oh! I know! Why don’t I cook us all some supper? Excellent!”

Evelyn, despite being a construct, was gleeful by that prospect. “Oh, my, that sounds wonderful! We would appreciate that so much, Lemon!”

“Oh, dear, call me Lee!” He smiled, taking Evelyn by the arm and striding toward the house. Lee was unfazed and they strolled past dying flames. “Why don’t you boys take care of the fires, hm? These beautiful ladies can help me with the food! Er, after they wash their hands.”

“I can make pastries!” Strix shrieked, suddenly quite excited.

“Wonderful! We’ll feast!” Lemon beamed, brushing away a stray strand of hair that had fallen from his bun.

Garik grumbled fondly. “It’s best not to argue.”

“Waffles!” Evelyn hollered to which the owlbear came running out of the woods with Simon atop her back.

Lemon and Garik didn’t look twice when Waffles and Simon appeared. After today, it could hardly surprise them. Simon crawled down from Waffles and trotted over to Paultin, a tiny wood hand pulling on his finger. The owlbear got pets from Strix, nudging her lovingly. After a moment, she was told to lay by the door of the hut.

After the three disappeared inside, Diath turned to Garik. “What can we do to help?”

Garik set his hands on his hips, looking toward his ruined crops. “There’s a well that we can use. But, surely, y’all have done enough for us already. I don’t know what we’d of done without ya.”

“It’s no trouble,” Diath assured. “We’re happy to help.”

“Ugh, dude, speak for yourself,” he complained, but Diath rolled his eyes and Garik paid him no mind.

It took them an hour to carry water back and forth to put out the fires and a couple more to cut up the crispy and frosty remains of the kamadan and bury it so other animals couldn’t get it. The last thing they wanted was another huge beast to come around looking for an easy meal. Paultin couldn’t stand the sight of the thing. They worked together and soon the place was cleaned up, aside from the charred remains of crops and bloodstains from the kamadan. By the time they were finished, the sun had fallen to the western sky, far past noon. He was glad town wasn’t that far or they would be walking in the dark.

“Hey!” Evelyn yelled, “Supper’s ready!”

Garik wiped his brow and called back. “Be right there!” He set his bucket down and waved them to come with him. “Lee’s a great cook, come on now.” Garik trudged up toward the hut.

For a beat, Paultin and Diath were alone. Immediately, Paultin felt stifled and started forward to break away from the tense air.

“Paultin,” Diath interjected and he glanced over his shoulder. “You shouldn’t throw yourself into….” He shook his head and met Paultin’s eyes to try again. “You good?” Diath’s brows were tight, expression concerned, as he nudged his chin toward where Paultin had been bitten.

Momentarily stunned, he stopped. “Oh. Uh, yeah. No biggie.”

“You did good.” Diath nodded and said nothing further as Garik called for them. “Let’s eat.”

“Uh,” he muttered intelligently, “sure.”

The two caught up with the half elf at the door and were lead into a spacious, but warm living area. Opened before him was a nice living area with chairs around a dining table and a glowing fireplace with two cushioned seats around it. To the right was a charming kitchen with an oven, an icebox, and a water basin. The space was very homey, decorated with tapestry and candles, as well as show swords up on the walls. The air was filled with a mouthwatering savory smell and the sweetness that he knew to be Strix’s pastries. Set out on the table were loaves of bread, cups of water, a bottle of wine, a large bowl of steaming beef stew, and a plate of hot vegetables he had never seen before. He was very interested in the wine though. He didn’t see Strix’s desserts, but their sweet aroma was wafting through the air from the oven. At the table, Strix and Evelyn sat across from each other, both with empty chairs beside them and at the heads of the table.

Paultin hadn’t realized how hungry he was until he smelt the stew, his stomach clawing at his insides desperately.

“Oh wonderful!” Lemon waved them in from the kitchen. “Come, sit down anywhere you like! Before it gets cold, now.”

“Thank ya, dear,” Garik murmured, taking a seat at the head of the table.

Diath sat opposite of the half elf, between Strix and Evelyn, scooting his chair up and taking a sip of water. There was already a glass of wine next to Strix, so he claimed the only open seat next to Evelyn and Simon followed, plopping beside his chair cross legged.

“Eat up, darlings, there’s plenty!”

Garik smiled at Lee, picking up the plate of stew. He first poured a serving into the plate next to him then looked to Strix. “May I?” When she nodded reluctantly, he gently took her plate and scooped up the hot stew into it. The bowl then started to make its way around.

“Evie and Strix were just telling me about your adventures.” Lemon explained, coming around to sit at the table next to Garik. “I could hardly believe it! Y’all have been through so much! You’re all so young, too!”

Evelyn went back to retelling a story of their great adventures. Small talk broke out after and continued well into the meal. Paultin, first and foremost, filled his wine glass to the brim and sipped at it, barely managing not to chug the whole bottle then and there. It wasn’t great wine, but after a whole day without it was sublime to him and he basked in the familiar warmness that settled in his gut. It was a little easier to draw his thoughts away from the gold smeared on claws. Thank butthander. Evelyn handed him the bowl of stew and he eagerly poured his plate full before setting it back on the table. He also took a chunk of bread and some of the mysterious vegetables when they came around. They tasted like broccoli but were shaped like tomatoes. The stew was excellent, a simple beef, carrot, and broth dish paired with excellent spices. He was famished, but after The Look™ Diath shot across the table he tried to slow down. In the middle of the meal, Garik asked Evelyn why she didn’t eat.

“Oh, goodness! I don’t mean to offend,” Evelyn apologized. “Ever since I was turned into a construct I don’t need to eat.”

She got blank stares, so she went on a tangent to explain how she tried to sacrifice herself to save her friends from a death curse, how a weird old man had performed a ritual on her, how a weirder old man made a copy of her, how she died and came back into the construct. She didn’t say how she’d give them each her will, how for days she’d smile in the fakest way he’d ever seen, how Strix and Diath argued, how he’d drunk himself senseless, how she kissed him on the rooftop- Paultin chugged the rest of his wine and poured himself another for good measure.

“So then I was flying up toward the great Lathander when this soul monger guy, he just came out of nowhere and tried to take me! But lucky for me, I was saved by this raven and I woke up in this body!” She leaned forward, elbow on the table for dramatic effect. “But what’s even crazier, I found out that the raven was Paultin here! And he’d saved me!”

He choked on his wine. “That’s not, I just,” he tried to explain, coughing.

Garik set a gentle hand on his shoulder, patting carefully to help him, but he tensed.

“Wow!” Amazed, Lemon turned to Garik beside him and nudged him. “Isn’t that incredible?”

Garik’s brows raised and he nodded, impressed. “Ay,” he agreed, “Y’all ar’ lucky to have such great friends. It’s rare to find people willing to go to such lengths for ya, missy.” The hand fell away from his shoulder.

“That’s right.” Lee beamed, reaching to rest his hand on Garik’s arm. “Let me tell you,” he begun, “Garik was a soldier when we met, you know? They were fighting an awful, awful war and when Garik got hurt, I found him and nursed him back to health.”

Evelyn sat forward, hanging out every word with great interest, while the rest of them stuffed food into their mouths.

Garik blushed and shrugged his shoulders. “Well, that’s not exactly-”

“Yes, it is, you goof,” Lee teased and Garik sighed. “Anyway,” he continued, “Back then, Garik was such a grump, didn’t trust nobody! But he stayed with me for a long time and eventually we fell in love. When the war ended, we moved from place to place. Garik used to get in trouble a lot, used to argue like crazy with me too! He was always worried about losing me-”

“That’s embarrassing, Lee,” Garik whined.

“And I told him he was gonna if he kept pushing me away!” Lee nodded firmly.

Garik grumbled in a way that suggested he had said many times before, “Ya can take care of yourself.”

“Indeed! Sorry, hon, I didn’t want to embarrass you.” He smiled at the half elf before turning back to Evelyn. “Anyway, darling, my point is you and your friends seem to be quite the family. With all your adventures, just be sure you take care of each other. It’s all worth it in the end.”

“Wow,” Evelyn sighed, voice thick with astonishment. “You’re so right!”

Diath cleared his throat, changing the subject. “How long have you been in Chult?”

“Oh, a decade or so,” answered Garik. “Ain’t seen a kamadan in all that time either. We’re lucky y’all were around. Ya have quite the fireball, miss...”

Once they were back to small talk, Paultin could breathe again, taking large gulps of his wine in between his bites of bread and vegetable. Eventually, pastries found themselves at the table and were consumed with enthusiasm. During conversation, he looked up from his plate and caught Strix’s gaze on him. She frowned at him, her sharp teeth chewing at her lip as her solid white eyes observed him. She looked away first, turning back to whatever discussion was taking place around them, and Paultin keep his eyes down until they were all finished.

“How far is the nearby town?” Diath inquired. They would have to set out soon.

“Ah.” Garik nodded, brushing flaky crumbs from his long beard. “About 45 minutes. Y’all will make it before dark if ya don’t want to spend the night here. We’d love to have ya.”

Diath shook his head, knowing they had been sidetracked for too long already. “Thanks, we’d love to stay, but we’re… We have a time sensitive thing.”

Lemon frowned mournfully. “A shame. You’re all such nice folk and I hoped to have you awhile longer.”

“Well, it’s not often we have a famous musician in the house!” Garik grinned at Paultin. “Might we hear a song from ya tonight before ya go?”

Evelyn twisted in her chair to grasp his arm. “Oh, yes! Please, Paultin? We’d love to hear you play!”

“What?” He hummed. “Yeah, sure.”

“Excellent!” Lemon stood making his way over to the kitchen. “I’ll just pack some of this food for later.”

Strix followed Lemon, starting to wrap up the remaining pastries. Diath picked up plates, trying to be helpful as well. With everyone waiting, Paultin pulled out his mandolin and began to strum one of the songs that used to do well in the taverns. Beside him, Evelyn announced that this was one of her favorites. Strix muttered from the kitchen that they were all her favorite. The trill of the music bounced throughout the room, filled the air with light.

“Dance with me!” Lemon pulled on Garik’s arm.

“I’m too old for this!” Garik laughed, but complied. His burly body moved awkwardly and Lee’s long limbs flailed about, but they danced and spun each other about with glee. They looked like the happiest people on earth.

Paultin’s chest tightened as he tried not to think of the things Lemon had said.