An Excerpt from Sara's Journal
I have come to enjoy the presense of Alandra and Estavan, despite not quite feeling a part of their group. They both encourage me to break away from my normal daily routine and delve into the unknown. We are planning to travel back to the village soon, to explore the mausoleum. I am told that numerous traps can be found within, and I am anxious to try my hand at unweaving the wires. I shall have to drink warm milk tonight, lest the thrill of the danger keep me awake till dawn. I have my doubts about Estavan's friend Abe, beyond his awful purple clothing and arrogant attitude... something just strikes me as off. Perhaps one day I will unravel that mystery.
Frailty Has A Name
Old Night had sheltered the land once more, driving all but the most determined people behind doors for the night. Sara sat alone in the Ladies Rest recording some things in her journal at a large table in the middle of the inn. Several people sat in different parts of the inn, holding hushed conversations among themselves, or sharing drinks to rid themselves of the burden of day-to-day life. So occupied in her writing she barely noticed the opening of the door, and the woman that approached and climbed atop the chair next to her, perching atop it not unlike a stone gargoyle atop a stone wall.
Unusual. That was the only word Sara could think of at that moment to describe this new woman. Her clothing was tattered and worn far too thin, and her feet were covered in dirt and mud. Atop her head was a mess of hair, it looked as if it had never been brushed, or perhaps that a few birds had managed to somehow make nest within. Then this unusual woman waved a hand to Sara and spoke, in a very crude and harsh voice.
"is pretties...what is name?". Before Sara could answer, the woman pointed to herself and spoke again
"...is Dolly"Startled a bit by the womans mannerisms, but not wishing to offend her, she answered as politely as she could.
"Why thank you, my name is Sara. It's nice to meet you Dolly. The two sat together, an odd pairing. One delicate and learned, the other quite rough and nearly uncivilized. They passed the hours with talk of things from writing, to hunting, to Sara's childhood collection fo butterflies. Dolly spoke with great pride about her own prowess in collecting beetles from the nearby caves.
Dolly likes hunting beetles!""Well, thats a good hobby." Sara offered a smile, having found something in common with the girl.
Everything seemed well, despite Dolly's unusual behavior and speech. Well, that and her unusual craving for whisky. Sara was amazed to see the thin girl drink several bottles of the awful tasting brew like it was water. Sara couldn't quite discern if the girl was immune to the alcohol, or just had a terribly high tolerance. She thought for certain Dolly would pass out at any moment, and she would be left to get a room for her to sleep off the effects of the whisky.
The inn door opened, and both girls looked out into the dark of the night anxious to see what had made its way to the inn at such an hour. Sara's concerned look turned to a smile as she saw Alandra enter with a tall well-built, handsome man. Alandra approached the table
"Oh Sara, seems I found myself a Knight, this is Jamal... Jamal, this is my friend Sara... but I don't know the girl next to her."After introductions, Alandra and Jamal took seats across from the other two. Neither quite certain what to make of the unkempt Dolly. The conversation changed many times over the night, even touching on the meaning of Jamal's tattoo behind his ear. A lot of the discussion had to be reworded in ways Dolly could understand. She did however grasp the meanings of most everything when put into simpler words. Eventually the topic turned back to the beetles. And Dolly was quite pleased to have a topic she felt an authority on.
Dolly told them of her prowess in hunting, and even showed them a huge elytra she had taken from one of the beetles. Sara recognized it almost immediately, its color and design reminded her of the small beetles she had seen once as a child. Fire beetles the people back home had called them. These however were the size of a small horse judging by the elytra.
Dolly, growing more excited and anxious to resume the hunt for beetles insisted that Sara join her, to see first hand how wonderful it was to hunt beetles. Sara quickly declined, having seen the amount of flammable fluids Dolly had drank, she feared a bite from one of the beetles might cause the poor girl to burn to ash as the alcohol was burned from her body. Dolly however, would not take no for an answer. She leapt from her perch on the chair and snatched up Sara with ease, throwing her over one shoulder into a firemans carry. Sara yelped in shock, and called out for help, unable to overpower Dolly to escape. Dolly made quick steps around the table towards the door, but Alandra had managed to move to block the door.
Dolly was not deterred by Alandra's attempt and ducked to one side, slipping past her and reaching for the door. Alandra, quick to react, managed to snatch Sara by the waist, and tried to pull her free of Dolly's grasp. The arm holding Sara's leg was extended for the door handle, and thus her leg slipped easily from her grasp, but her arm was less fortunate. The shifting of Sara's weight as her lower body began to drop to the ground forced the other arm to twist sharply, and a resounding crack was heard throughout the common room, followed by a scream of agony. For a moment, everything seemed to stop... everything except the pain Sara felt in her arm, and the sound of her screams.
The inn burst into a flurry of commotion. People who had been minding their own business rose and came to see what was going on. They found Alandra and Dolly arguing over the huddled form of Sara on the floor. Sara's face was red and wet with streams of tears at the pain. She held her arm, cradling it tightly to herself, likely causing more pain on her own, but protecting it as best she could from the people standing over her. It felt like hours to her, but it was only a matter of minutes in reality. More people stood over her, arguing over who's fault it was, and how bad it might be. Alandra and Jamal were both trying to coax her into letting them see the arm, and Dolly ran off to avoid further trouble. The noise and the crowd kept her in a state of panic, and all she could manage was to back into a corner and huddle over her arm to protect it, and cry.
Among the other patrons that night was a woman, with a soft voice, and kind face. She managed to push back the crowd and calm Sara a bit, and even eventually to allow them to see her arm. The woman nodded quickly, informing everyone that it had been broken, and would need to be set before it could be healed. Sara trembled at the thought, knowing it would involve more pain before it would be better. But Jamal reached in, taking her arm and straightening it swiftly and loosing the blessing of his god into it at the same time. Despite the healing, Sara released another loud scream, which subsided as the pain drifted into memory.
Wiping the tears from her eyes, embarassed by the whole ordeal, she spoke her thanks to the woman.
"It'll be alright miss" she spoke.
"You'll be fine, just get some rest, and if you need anything... my name is Holly" Sara thanked Holly quietly, and then was led off by Alandra to a room so she could rest off the events of the evening.