Centoriel

[Graybeard]

The horses turned out to be hobbled in a small clearing fifty yards or so from the forest's edge. There were three of them, all saddled. None carried anything suggesting preparations to make camp. Either their riders had camped somewhere else, or they were staying in a town -- but there weren't supposed to be any towns nearby to stay in. Surprisingly, their riders were nowhere to be seen -- or maybe, from the odor still wafting occasionally in their direction from the ruins, it wasn't so surprising.

One horse had a rifle slung none-too-subtly over its saddle. The Veracian Church didn't exactly encourage its priests and nuns to become familiar with firearms, but Sister Rose and Brother Miguel had been in the military, after all ... "Interesting," Rose said. "The riders came ready for trouble, and then walked away and left this hanging here. I'm not sure what to make of that. Maybe they took handguns wherever they were going to."

Miguel nodded. "Makes sense, if they were going to explore the ruins. They probably wanted their hands free, yet to have firepower close at hand. Doesn't look like it saved them, though. That sound last night was definitely not one of a pistol being used."

He stepped closer to one of the horses, but it shied away; the animal was still scared, and it wouldn't do to try to get closer than that. "I wonder what these critters could tell us," he said. "If we had any way to talk to them, at least."

[Drannin]

Argus shrugged. "Empathy is not one of my skills. Magical or otherwise." He glanced at Harker. "Dumb question, but..."

Harker shook his head. "Sorry Boss. Beaver body doesn't translate into fluency in horse-ese. About the only universal language I know is 'Screw-offish.'" Harker showed his teeth. They were indeed enough to make anyone reconsider.

"Well, then..." Argus shrugged. "Anyone know any magic to communicate with animals?"

[Graybeard]

"Now there's an idea," Sister Rose said. "Empathy. Most animals that we think of as 'intelligent' don't exactly have thoughts, as we do, but do have emotions. I should be able to do something with that. Thing is, though, you don't have to use magic to see that the main emotion these horses are feeling right now is just fear -- and that isn't very useful. Any thoughts on how to get them calmed down?"

[Sareth]

"Maybe." Lillith stepped softly towards the horses, crooning gently to them. Her movements were slow, gentle, soothing. She made absolutely no attempts to snatch at any tethers or reins, but simply moved calmly amongst them, letting them watch her.

It served a double purpose. She found that, while attempting to calm them, the stillness and calm she was having to project was having a similar effect on herself. So long as she was concentrated on being a soothing presence, she herself was soothed, no longer thinking of her own fears.

Her eyes became heavy lidded, and nearly closed as she allowed herself to hover at the edge of a fugue-like state. The soothing sounds, the calming air she projected continued, and she found herself surprised when her fingers touched the rough-haired neck of one of the horses. She carefully wrapped her fingers around the lead rope dangling from the animal's neck, then turned, slowly, and smiled to Sister Rose.

[Graybeard]

Sister Rose smiled back. "Thank you." There were situations where magical means didn't work as well as plain old compassion.

There was still a problem with using the Empathy spell, though. As is true with most animals, horses' minds, such as they are, are firmly rooted in the here-and-now. Their "memory," again such as it is, is instinctive rather than conscious. Of course, so is much human memory; there is a reason why athletes and warriors train to achieve "muscle memory," and that reason -- the need for one's musculature to perform correctly, without conscious thought, in times of stress -- is even more important in the life of a horse. But how to get this creature's here-and-now to reflect what was only there subconsciously from the night before?

Rose had an idea. She cast her spell, turned it on the horse, got just what she expected: residual fear from the odor of burnt flesh, gratitude for Lillith (bordering on sheer, undying love), and just the tiniest hint of curiosity. Well, that last part was good; this was something she could work with.

Still concentrating on the spell, she said, "Lillith, please put your hand on the saddle and reins, as though you were getting ready to mount up and ride. You don't actually need to mount, but I want to see what happens."

Puzzled, Lillith did as she was told. The horse's emotional state hardly changed at all; an element of resignation crept in, but it displaced some of the fear, as the animal prepared to do what it had been conditioned for.

Rose smiled. "Excellent. Now take just about five steps into the woods, in the direction that that smell is coming from. You don't even need to leave the trees, if my guess is right." Lillith took her hand away and moved cautiously into the trees, while Rose concentrated ...

FEAR.

[Drannin]

Argus watched Rose's reaction with some concern. He didn't even had to ask. Her expression spoke volumes. "So there's something in those woods that terrifies them. The question is, is it still there?"

Harker fidgeted. "Does anyone really want to go find out?"

As before, there was a pronounced shortage of volunteers.

[Graybeard]

"I don't think it's something in the woods that terrifies them," Sister Rose said. "There are only ten yards of woods beyond here. It's something beyond the woods -- over in those ruins. I'm not sure my reasoning is right here, check this out...

"Lillith made that horse feel good, by calming it, treating it well, being a comfort, and so on. The horse, for lack of a better word, likes her. 'Loves' her might not be putting it too strongly, at least for the moment. The moment she started moving toward the ruins, though, the terror came -- as though it thought something bad was going to happen to her." (The look on Lillith's face said she felt the same way.)

Rose continued, "Now that tells us two important things. First, whatever the scary thing is, it's still shaking the horses up. Second, the people riding the horses didn't cause the scary thing. They were more likely to be the victims of whatever went off last night than to be the source of it. I think that's important."

Brother Miguel nodded. "I follow your reasoning. But we're back to the same old question: now what?"

[Sareth]

Lillith returned to the horse and began softly stroking it's neck, leaning her cheek against the troubled beast. She softly crooned to it as Sister Rose gave her explanation. The horse calmed, nickering to her.

Sister Rose' logic was pretty solid. It certainly sounded like the owners of the horses had met a bad end, rather than caused whatever happened. But as she said, who wanted to go find out just what that was? She looked at the group, each looking highly reluctant. And then her eyes fell on...

"Aren't those constructs of yours indestructable?" she asked Argus.

[Graybeard]

As the others tried to cajole Harker into taking one for the team, Brother Miguel thought, I have a different idea. Sometimes the simple approach works...

The forest here wasn't particularly thick, and it didn't take long to find a climbable-looking tree that seemed to offer a clear view into the ruins, yet enough foliage to provide concealment. With a deep breath and a swallow, he said, "Cover me," to nobody in particular, and started up. Moments later, he'd found what he was looking for.

Not far from the edge of the ruined town, there was a comparatively large stone structure with an open space, probably a patio or courtyard, in front of its main entrance. It was easy enough to see that the courtyard-space had a charred area at the side closest to the building. Vegetation had encroached on the open space (how long had it been deserted? hard to tell, but it must have been a while), but in a semi-circular area at the door, all that remained were scorched stems and trunks of what must once have been scrubby bushes.

Even more revealing, there was something scorched-looking, and quite possibly formerly human, sprawled in the doorway.

"I think I at least know where to start our search," Miguel said, as he hopped down to ground level, the "discussion" with Harker still going on.

[Drannin]

"No." Thus spake Harker.

"Yes." Thus spake Argus.

"No!" Thus yelled Harker.

"Please?" Did Sister Rose asked sweetly.

"NO WAY IN HELL!" Harker again. Most emphatic.

Argus considered. Gestured with his hand. A large stone foot shot up from the ground and punted Harker in the direction of ruins. "Yes," spake the magus.

"#@!%^%@!!!!!" cursed the familiar. Somewhat before going splat.

There was a long moment of silence. Then Harker started cursing in the distance. "He's fine." Argus assured the others. Then Harker's voice came floating through the trees, uncertain.

"Hey, guys? I found something..."