VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, [5], 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 13:26:29 02/05/02 Tue
Author: Laurel
Subject: They ought to know
In reply to: Erlic Eastlore 's message, "There is someone" on 20:57:55 02/04/02 Mon

While Laurel was drying off Mikoshi—the cat was emitting constant, low rolling mewls the entire time, but wasn’t otherwise struggling—she noticed Erlic reach for something in his pocket. Curious, she set the towel aside and leaned toward him slightly, raising an eyebrow when he withdrew a tiny mirror.

Odd. There were very few men she knew of that carried compact mirrors with them, and those few were usually courtesans or powder-faced noble dandies. Laurel didn’t need to know about his past to wager that Erlic was definitely not either of those, but the resolution only served to heighten her curiosity.

She was silently surprised when Dalo’s face suddenly appeared in the tiny mirror; obviously it was an enchanted communication device of some sort. Alarm overcame her briefly when she saw the younger man’s face was beaten severely, blemishing his normally handsome expression. The story he told fit his appearance—it involved a kidnapping, a beating, and the disappearance of their friend Eremis, the young healer.

Mention of the name Tegol Denair rang a bell in her head, but she couldn’t immediately place it. As she listened further to the two men’s conversation, she finally recalled that he was supposedly one of two major crimelords running the city of Bizmar. Apparently, the man had once employed Erlic’s handsome young student, Marz, and now assumed that not only had his onetime employee fled his influence, but that his teacher was himself a new crimelord!

Laurel shot Erlic a glance, not entirely convinced that this couldn’t be true. Erlic was dangerously quiet, quiet in the manner of a man who kept many secrets and was used to keeping them, too. Generally, a crimelord was also very intelligent, though she had yet to observe any similar talent of his other than his ability to hold a clever conversation with her. He certainly seemed slow to react in social situations; though in battle, he moved with the speed of a viper, and made decisive snap decisions that belied his assurances that he was not in any way the leader of their little group.

Eremis’ capture was most unsettling. Not only was she very fond of the boy, but she also knew he a was veritable cornucopia of relevant information for this Denair man. As for his ability to keep their whereabouts quiet, she feared the worst. He was timid by nature, preferring to avoid physical conflict whenever possible.

The crimelord would surely have his men beat any information out of him, and, knowing his disposition, the beating would not have to be long. She just hoped, for his sake, that they considered his healing talents useful enough to keep him alive—or else to use him as a hostage, though she certainly did not claim to know the inner workings of a crimelord’s mind.

When the conversation ended, Erlic replaced the mirror in his pocket, after first warning Dalo to be careful. Laurel watched him take a swig from his wine and stare off into the distance, obviously lost in thought. She waited patiently for him to collect himself, but apparently the bad blood between himself and this Tegol Denair ran very deep, and the news disturbed him more than she would have expected.

Presently, he turned to meet her anxious gaze, but still failed to open his mouth and speak of what they had just learned. Strangely enough, she began to grow irritated with him, for once annoyed with his general solitude and tendency to think everything to death before moving ahead and planning definite action. Careful thought and foresight were all very good, yes, but decisive action had its place, as did a sharing of ideas with one you considered to be your intellectual equal, particularly when she was sitting right beside you and had just witnessed a most grave conversation between yourself and a good friend.

“Well?” she prompted, drawing his attention once again. He stayed silent, looking very solemn indeed. “We must tell the others,” she continued, her voice firm. She could easily see the doubt in his eyes, and quickly shook her head. “Yes, we must. Erlic,” she grabbed his arm firmly, “This man, if he has Eremis, he will soon know all about us. Our location, our task, our friends, everything. He will know about you, which I suspect is of some importance to him. I confess I do not know why he should wish to beat your friend Dalo and then capture Eremis, but I am willing to bet that it means you—and thus all of us—are now in great danger. Otherwise, Dalo would not have contacted you.”

She paused to gather her thoughts, fixing him with a stern look once again. “I will not take it upon myself to tell them, for I think it is your privilege—with the exception of my brother, of course. But they look to you for protection, and it is their right, and your duty to provide that protection as such. And Erlic…they cannot be protected if they are not soon made aware of this new danger hanging over their heads.”

Her voice softened somewhat. “At least tell them of Eremis. Many here considered him a friend, and they really ought to know what has happened, at least in that respect.”

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

Forum timezone: GMT-6
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.