A Good Presence

[LuxA]

With the slightly flustered look of someone who has slept a lot, and with the bed head to prove it, Wil White makes her way from the stairs of the Mariner and to Tyrsis at the counter. She hands him a bundle wrapped in some simple cloth.
”Please give this to Eli when he returns.”
After nodding and thanking him she heads out the door and begins the nightly journey to the Second Wind Inn, a bright light spell guiding her steps.

[Iron_Storm]

Eli walks up to bar of the Mariner, placing a few coins on the bar.

"Let me get an ale, mate."

Along with the ale, he is handed a small bundle of cloth shortly afterwards. Upon unwrapping it and exchanging a few words with the barkeep, Eli thanks the man.

Then with a nod, he proceeds to drink his ale as he walks towards the door. "The stein will be out front mate."

[Allielliot]

As Wil arrived to the second wind in her Disheveled state, Dane breathed a sigh of relief from where he sat in the corner of the common room.

She was okay.

His mind returned to the night before. It had begun so well with the meeting of Gabrielle, which renewed his hope for the forces of good in the valley. Then the Colibrites had arrived. Garbed I'm darkness and arrogance the pair had approached. Gabrielle gave one warning to the pair to leave. Then, after commanding Wil and Dane to flee to safety, she engaged the monsterous men.

Wil and Dane had hesitated, torn between logical self preservation in the face of the powers in front of them, and their desire to aid Gabrielle, who stood alone against the two men and thier dark summons. That moment of hesitation proved costly as one of the summon flung a ball of flame at Gabrielle. The woman's wards deflected the blast, but they didn't extend to the idealistic pair who stood frozen by the inn's front door.

The next few moments played in a confused blur for Dane. The flames reached out for them, and ,just as he began to feel his skin burn, he felt something solid strike him from the side and a door slammed in his face as he fell backward.

It took a few more moments for him to realize that it had been Wil that hit him and that she had slammed the door with herself still outside. The common room was chaos as Dane moved in a panicked scramble to open the door. The handle was white hot, making opening the door by normal means impossible, and as Dane moved to bash the door he was hit from the side again, this time by the inn's bouncer.

Dane attempted to scramble free shouting "Wil, let me go Ai've gotta help Wil!", but the bouncer kept him pinned, growling into his ear, " use yer head boy! Tha magics out there 're beyond ya! The lass will have to care for herself, and if you move to bash that door again I'll have more than words for you! You understand?"

Dane nodded grudgingly, gritting his teeth, as the bouncer moved to allow him to his feet. He stood, his gaze locked on the door handle as if he could will it to cool, and, in a few minutes when it had cooled enough to touch, he burst into the night, sword at the ready.

The conflict was over. In the center of the singed yard was Gabrielle, her wards of protection holding back the dark of the night. At her feet was a crumpled shadow that gave Dane a gut-wrenching moment of panic until he realized it was one of the Colibrites and not Wil. As he scanned the clearing, Dane saw the strange Red Wizard off to the right.

"Where is Wil? My companion, the woman with whitening hair?"

It was the Red Wizard who answered first, "Gone. The other of the pair took her."

Gabrielle had knelt to bind and gag the shadow at her feet before answering. "I can feel his evil. The other one returns, likely for the one. I will trade him in exchange for your companion if I can, but you must return to the safety of the Inn. I cannot be concerned with both of your safety."

Dane ground his teeth in frustration at his own uselessness, but did as he was told. A few minutes later Gabrielle entered, holding a battered and burned Wil in her arms. "She lives, but barely. We must get her to the temple at port avanthyr quickly."

Dane took Wil's broken form gently in his arms and carried her to the temple of Selune with Gabrielle. There the priests worked over her and she regained consciousness, though she remained weakened.

It was then that they ran into Eli who offered Wil his room at the mariner to rest.

Dane blinked and he was back at the second wind. Wil was well, smiling even as she gracefully entered the room. He was breathing a sigh of relief. The Colibrites had already taken his family, and until this moment he had been worried they might have taken the last bright point of sanity in his dull life of duty and revenge.

He made a silent vow to redouble his efforts to defend the valley, and especially to find a way to wipe all traces of the Colibrites from it.