The road to Getsemiel

[Graybeard]

Well, we'd better get on with it, thought Sister Rose as she put the diary away.

Her attitude toward the late Sister Bree had been changing. Certainly, any way you cut it, Bree had been an unpleasant person, hostile to the point of outright nastiness, with a chronically jaundiced view of humanity coupled to a grasping ambition. At the same time, however, she'd clearly been seriously, conscientiously trying to do Luminosita's work -- to the extent that the Cardinal Inquisitor's mission fell under that heading. That counted for something.

And she too had picked up on something weird and alarming about Father Blaise.

Brad was looking like he was torn between starting to learn the enhanced Barrier, and going into the tent to check on Lillith. One of those things was more ... urgent than the other. Rose put the diary out of her mind and turned to her cousin. "Okay, let's try the enhanced Barrier," she said. "You know how to cast a regular Barrier, right?"

Brad nodded, although his eyes were flitting to the tent. "I've done it," he said. "But do you think Lillith is going to --"

Rose extended a hand gently to his face and diverted his attention back to her (with a distinct undercurrent that the next time hand and face made contact, it might be something more like a slap rather than a gentle touch). "Brad," she said, "this is no time to worry about Lillith. We'll work with her when she and Desiree finish up. For now, your attention must be here. If you can't improve your defensive magic, not only will you not be able to protect her, you'll be putting your own life at risk. Now pray to Luminosita, tap His Power, and put up that Barrier, but at the same time, inject a little of your own strength, your mental strength, into it." The teaching began.

[Jack Rothwell]

Eli wordlessly took a bowl of stew and made his way to the edge of the camp with a distracted expression on his face, not bothering to look back if anyone followed him.

OOC Edit-sp./OOC

[Alberich]

Brother Timothy concentrated on the training, drilling himself on the lessons to get those barriers up, get them up fast, and join them with his companions'. He was oblivious to all else, at least for the time being.

[Porcelain Fish]

"So . . . is this going to work?" Bryce asked quietly between bites, one arm around Maduin who was settled in his lap, head bent so his mouth wasn't that far from Maduin's ear.

Maduin considered that for a moment. "Well, if I recall the scene correctly from Sister Rose's mind, which I was using as a focal point for my projection during the last attack, apparently the caster was directing the spell at the place where I would have been standing if I'd been physically present rather than just a projection, which leads me to believe that she was merely on outskirts of the effect, which was, all things considered, fortunate. Her Barrier was sufficient to ward off damage to her, and consequently me as well, but whether it would stand up to the full brunt of an all-out attack . . . that's another question altogether." His tone was musing, volume equally low. "Are you familiar with the Shoiichi Cascade Effect?"

"I don't do magic." Bryce's tone was slightly dry.

"Like the droplets when you go pee." Maduin turned and gave him a smirk.

Bryce's eyebrows rose. "You think Sister Rose was hit by a droplet?"

"In enormously simplified terms, and discounting a few corollaries, possibly." Maduin shrugged. "Who could say what might have happened if the full stream had been directed at her? The experience alone seems to have been quite traumatic. I only caught a faint washback, very diluted."

"So that's a "probably not going to work" then?" Bryce hazarded.

"It's a maybe, maybe not, but for the time being it's about probably the best that can be managed with the limited resources at our disposal." Maduin reached up and patted Bryce's jaw fondly with one hand. "Don't worry, you'll be fine."

"I'm not getting that impression." Bryce's tone turned slightly dour.

"It takes years of training and practice and a good amount of skill to not occupy a space at the appropriate time," Maduin said after a long moment. "I'll make sure we're not."

"All of us?" Bryce asked skeptically.

"Mmm. You, and possibly Lillith. Argus can take care of himself, and I haven't got the strength for our entire merry band. This fish is excellent by the way."

"Pretty bird, I-" Bryce cut himself off, his arm tightening around Maduin. He pressed a light kiss to Maduin's cheek. "Thanks."

Maduin smiled, but his gaze lingered on where Rose was walking Brad yet again through the Barrier spell.

[Drannin]

Argus considered the barrier Rose was demonstrating thoughtfully. "If I may interject," he commented. "Given what you're doing, try inscribing a few simple runes into the overall design." He gestured, showing a few simple curves. "Those are easy enough, and will help focus the barrier's energy. Something is better than nothing, after all."

[Graybeard]

Sister Rose lifted an eyebrow at Argus' simple, yet elegant, magical design. Nobody ever told me about that. Experimentally, she recast her own Barrier, making the mental effort to incorporate the angles and curves as Argus had demonstrated. Yes, the whole thing was more robust now; she could feel it. (The soldier part of her personality urged her to make sure to repeat this little demonstration the next time she visited the special-ops base; she'd just learned something useful about Tsuirakuan magic. The nun part, and particularly the woman part, told the soldier to mind her own business.) She felt more confident that this improved Barrier could resist whatever Wilbur Hamael had thrown at the earlier one. That seemed important.

"Thanks," she smiled at Argus. "That's a great innovation, and I think anybody who learns the Barrier can do it, even with the mental part added." A glance at Brad, Brother Tim and Eli seemed to confirm this. Her smile widened. "I owe you one." She winked.

Hmmm ... that could be misinterpreted, couldn't it? She hoped the light was too dim for anyone to see whether she was blushing, as she composed her face to get back to teaching. However, before she could say anything else, Brad interrupted, pointing out into the darkness of the valley. "Look, Rose," he said. "There's a light out there on the road, about half way to the horizon. Someone is coming our way."

[Drusia]

"Maybe she felt she couldn't move to stop what happened in Sanctuariel. But she chose what rules to enforce on the town she founded. And you chose to follow her rules." Dark, sad eyes contemplated Desiree. "And that's what I can't forget."

She reached for her clothes and began dressing. "My best friend growing up, one of the very few I had, was a girl with a hairlip. Did you know that?"

"No, I didn't," I reply, standing up. I step out of the tub and towel off.

"I was in love with someone," I say as I dry off, "He left Snamish because he wanted to see the world. And while he was seeing the world, an elf saw him. The elf killed him." At least, mother thinks it was another elf.

I wipe the water from my face. Some from the bath, some tears.

"I'm trying to be your friend, Lillith," I tell her, "But I can't if you keep pushing me away. I don't want to feel like I'm walking on egg shells every time I talk to you. I'm from Snamish - it's going to come up in conversation. So is my mother. I'm sorry, I can't... pretend I'm not who I am." I finish drying myself and set the towel aside.

I look at Lillith for a long moment. She's beautiful. I can see why my mother wanted her to live in Snamish.

"We're not so different," I tell her. "We've both suffered because of the elves. We shouldn't be fighting. Please, Lillith... let me be your friend." Please, be my friend. I don't have very many at the moment.

-- Desiree

[Alberich]

The light approached at a horseman's speed. The rider wasn't going hell-for-leather -- he wanted to make it out and back safely. He had a lamp on a stick. Everyone at the camp had plenty of time to see him coming, and when he came nearby, he called out a greeting himself. Brother Timothy knew the voice. "Sergeant Tarmage?"

"That's it, sir," he said, dismounting and walking closer. In his lamplight, the stranger was not tall but strong, middle-aged, and armed. Whatever provisions he carried fit in a couple of saddlebags and a rolled blanket. He wasn't planning a long journey.

"What brings you here?" asked Tim. Fred Tarmage, he well knew, was a cheesemaker and a straightforward man of business. He rarely left town and never stayed away long.

"I been activated, d'ye see, to bring a message to you and Sister Rose. Straight from Father Arpad. If I could just have a word, I could be back on my way." That was in character. When he wasn't in the creamery, Fred kept to his own house and family, and he stayed sober in public. On drill days he was efficient, made no complaint, and brooked no argument. A good choice for a messenger.

[Graybeard]

Sister Rose turned away from the magical instruction for a moment; Eli and Argus could handle the teaching, and the temple wouldn't have sent this man riding through the night if it hadn't been important. "Yes, my good man, I'm Sister Rose," she said to the townsman. "What is it?"

"It's from Father Arpad, ma'am," the man said. "He be sayin' -- 'scuse me, he says to tell you Ronnie's mom is in town."

Ronnie's mom? Rose and Brother Tim exchanged looks, then it sank in. Ronnie was the altar boy whose "Uncle Shemmy" had died at the stables. Why was that newsworthy? "Please, do go on," she coaxed gently.

Her urging loosened the man's tongue, but it didn't do wonders for his diction. "Well, ma'am, she's in town ... an' she's pissed. Says she's goin' to be killin' the 'Tsoo-rakyan bastard' that be travelin' with ye, the one what killed her brother Tommy." He glanced at Tim. "Be there really a Tsoo-rakyan travelin' with ye, sir?"

[Alberich]

"A couple," said Tim. "And under Patriarch's Protection, as our guests. You did right in coming to warn us. What can you tell us about this woman? Does it seem she has the means to kill anyone?"