Surfacing Ch. 23

*Let him be,* I signed before gesturing for us to climb down. It was steep but not impassible.

The first scrapes of our descent caused the music to stop and Tamuril leaned her head out - not very cautiously, I thought - to look up. She smiled a bit as if expecting us, supporting Gavin's glimpse of Pilla. She disappeared from view, probably to make room but Mourn moved in front to reach the small ledge first. Just in case.

Soon enough Jael and I joined him but it would be a very tight squeeze if Gavin joined us as well. The place had been hollowed out just a bit more and used frequently by the nearby city guard, but I estimated it had been intended for about four bodies at a time. At least we were out of the direct Sun on this side, now that we had passed into afternoon.

Deshi sat with his legs crossed and his back to the stone, well into the shade, his clothes torn and very bloody from the battle. His face and skin were still quite pale where he did not have injuries, and in the shadow they were tinged with a bit of grey. The gold ring around his ice blue pupils stood out even more against the black of his eyes. He watched us expectantly and it was very easy to read that he was glad to see us, but also wary of anything we might say.

Tamuril looked between us and asked what had become apparent on Deshi's face. "Where is the Deathwalker?"

"Coming," I said. "This is not an easy place to reach."

"But you did come to search for Deshi," she said, glancing at the young Man as if that had been for his benefit.

"We did, soon as we could," Mourn said, nodding his chin toward Deshi. "What had been summoned needed to be sent away first. It would not wait, so thank you for doing so, Ku Ba."

The Yungian seemed shrink a little bit in discomfort. "I was not waiting, lung-jinshen. I was... considering. Many things."

"There will be much more to consider. I promise." Mourn turned to Tamuril. "What have you been doing here?"

"Trading songs," the Druid said with a curious quality of her tone which reminded me of Krithannia and the ritual in the shower. "His homeland has many lovely ones I have never heard before."

Jael and I glanced at each other the same time, probably thinking the same thing. There weren't a lot of casual singers where we came from - they were a luxury of the wealthy since impulsively droning on within the Underdark was a foolhardy notion. What little bit I had heard had not been bad, but I wondered if Noldor would ever have the desire or confidence to sing in front of a Drow? Probably not, but she seemed to enjoy sharing that talent with Human males who saw her as much more than we did.

Mourn bowed his head at Tamuril. "Indeed, they do. You have my thanks."

The hybrid shifted carefully so as not to thwack any of us with his tail and to balance a very quiet Graul properly as he crouched down beside the Yungian - he had to crouch or he would have bumped his head on the stone above for sure. Deshi stared at the drake and dared to smile—without murderous intent— for the first time I had seen since his transformation. I masked my surprise when Graul chirred and stretched his neck out, showing his throat.

"Yaociu hua hen," Mourn said with a smile in his own, pointing his clawed finger at his familiar.

Hesitating a moment, the young Man reached out and stroked Graul's throat flap gently with his fingertips before moving to the whiskered chin and giving it a scratch. The drake hummed happily, flicking the tip of his tail and probably would have tapped his hind leg if it hadn't been hooked into the harness. I glimpsed Deshi's white, regrown teeth as he smiled a bit more.

"Yexu ni ku-ba geng, Deshi," the Guild Leader said in what sounded like a suggestion. "Graul bu yun-xu fanren chobai."

Jael leaned in very close to me. "Wish he would speak Common."

I shrugged. *Read other cues.*

She considered and kept her hand out of easy sight as I did. *What do you read?*

Pretty easy, this one, compared to some of those in Yong Wen. *Greeting. Acceptance. One old mystic to a new one.*

*Is that the direction this takes?* she asked. *We must adopt him?*

Well. I had helped change him, but only after Deshi had given Nyx a "yes" of some sort. This hadn't been my idea.

I leaned out to look up as Tamuril had earlier, checking to see if Gavin had come away from the North side yet to this one. I saw Pilla perched quite obviously upon the stones, periodically flapping her wings and looking toward the North—trying to get Gavin's attention. That was good, I supposed. If it didn't work soon, I'd crawl up there at get him.

Pilla soon chirped and took off, and the next moment I heard Gavin's footsteps. The bird was doing the minimum required of her but still did not want to get anywhere near us. I turned around and Tamuril nodded.

"He's coming," she said to Deshi.

His arrival was preceded by several rocks tumbling and skipping their way past us as Mourn and I each shifted, trying to be subtle about it, to prepare just in case the necromancer slipped. Massive regeneration capability or not, it was a long fall and would be quite a delay trying to reach him. But then again maybe that would get Deshi off of his rear end -

Prophetically, an abrupt shift in rock signaled that loss in footing and we all jumped, with Deshi leaping to his feet and following Mourn directly as they hopped out onto the slope as if to catch the grey mage. I was at the edge if I was able to help somehow, though I remembered how dense my ally was now from when he had been on top of me that once. I doubted I could stop his fall by sheer block and force as the half-Dragon and the Ku Ba seemed intent to do. At least I did have my rope out by then.

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" I heard Gavin say irritably. "Just a simple slip, I already caught myself. Don't touch me."

I looked up again with Jael and Tamuril. Mourn and Deshi had practically tackled the necromancer in an attempt to prevent any momentum from building toward an unstoppable fall. Both males made space when Gavin asked but did not go far.

"I apologize, White Ghost," Deshi said, despite Gavin not being very white at the moment. The young Man sounded out of breath somehow, or maybe just shaking from adrenalin. "Please, let me help you down."

"Or we can move up to a perfectly serviceable watchtower on level ground rather than crouch on the side of a cliff," Gavin grumbled back in response.

I wasn't sure about Mourn—he only languidly waved his tail—but Graul *definitely* snickered at this.

"A sound suggestion," the hybrid rumbled, looking down at the three females below. "It is not a very big space."

"Sounds good to me," Jael agreed in the loudest voice yet and started to climb before anyone else could weigh in.

That was when my stomach rumbled audibly and clenched in pain for the first time. I sighed, putting my rope back. Perfect timing.

******

Soon we were all comfortable as we could be inside a darker, ground floor of the cylindrical structure, while the Hellhounds waited outside. There was a small table and low bench near one of the windows and Gavin claimed that before anyone else. The rest of us stood.

"What does the Grey Maiden say of me now, White Ghost?" the Yungian pleaded. "What am I to do?"

"In the Guild, are you given mission after mission? Must you hurry on from one target to the next without pause?" Gavin said as he checked over his belongings from the mild fall. His dark face and hands bleached out again to his usual ghostly pallor. "If you were to simply return to her immediately after your vengeance, you would already be gone. In either case I am not privy to what you shared with her. If what Sirana said of you is true, then I hazard to say that you are to remain here for the time being."

Deshi looked at me. "What is it you said of me? What didn't you tell me?"

I raised my brows at the tone. "Nothing I had known *prior* to you running way."

The Yungian was anxious to hear and bowed a little apology, just to be safe. "Wo'doa qian. What was it, Jan'shi?"

"You do not remember?"

He blinked, possibly afraid of the answer whether he remembered or not. I frowned and, rather than saying it, I stepped closer. Once I was a similar distance to the last time, I breathed out into his face - not excessively or with force, but as if I might be exhaling sweet smoke slowly and with skill, like Tamuril or Krithannia with the herbs in the shower.

I saw that expression again; Deshi was entranced and he leaned forward slightly to inhale. I planted a hand on his chest to keep him from getting closer.

"This," I said. "I told Gavin about this. You remember now?"

The young Man nodded shakily.

"What does it feel like, Deshi?" the necromancer asked, probing, and I expected his grimoire and quill to come out before long. "Breathing in her breath?"

"Like..." He swallowed, keeping his head down and unable to meet my eyes. "Like the finest wine. Like cruji soup or the do-ki-shun sweet only served once a year at festival. Her warmth flows into me."

Gavin nodded. "If that is what it feels like, that is what it is. You should have the ability to sustain yourself here for much longer."

Deshi was not comforted. "But why? What am I to do?"

"Practice patience, for one. I might suggest discovering more of what you've become." The necromancer looked him up and down. "Do those open wounds on your legs not hurt, for example?"

This time the Yungian did not pretend ignorance; he glanced down to look at them, he shook his head in the negative, clearly already having considered this. They had closed further from the last time I had seen them a few hours ago but were still noticeable. At this rate, they would be gone in a day or two.

"And they have drawn no flies," Gavin commented. "They are bright red; healthy blood by all appearances, saturated with the element taken through our lungs which the living so desperately need." He looked between us before focusing again on Deshi. "Personally I would like to see whether you can get this nourishment from a different Elf other than the one who shared her magic with you, and also if you can draw it from a Human. As well how much it will take to satiate you."

Poor Deshi seemed on the verge of panic but then Mourn squeezed his shoulder with a big hand and Tamuril moved to his other side to pat his back comfortingly.

"You are one of us, now, young one," the Druid murmured.

I wondered about her definition of "us" here—Mystics? Mages? Exiles?—and clearly the two had already been doing some talking while they shared songs, as Deshi nodded in appreciation as Tamuril continued.

"Nyx's chosen is right, you must explore your new limits to survive and discover a purpose outside of a need for vengeance. She is wise for having given you this chance. Take it."

Deshi breathed in then out, looking calmer. "Thank you, Silven."

I had been feeling hunger pangs here and there all this time, but right then my stomach made another very audible complaint and I pursed my lips and looked toward the ceiling. "Maybe I should head down ahead of you. My concentration on this conversation won't be sharp."

Mourn half-smiled and the others had mixed looks of realization, concern, and a bit of embarrassment, particularly when the Yungian focused my abdomen again and he saw... whatever he saw. One might almost think he had just seen me nude when he least expected it from how he quickly looked down and away.

I said to Mourn, "Should I find Wolf or someone specific to ask about any remaining supplies?"

"Yes, but Talov will be here with others within the next hour or so."

"I will come down with you," Deshi said looking around each of us. "I... I am ready."

He probably hadn't been ready a few moments ago, but he was for certain not ready to try to keep all our attention when there was work to be done and a pregnant spirit was hungry. He would have to face his Guild brothers' scrutiny sooner or later and he was probably wise staying with us for the first contact.

Gavin was more than ready to go, standing up at this announcement. "So be it. We can answer a few questions closer to supplies as well as we can from up here. And there are a few things I would like to see to as well."

"Anything to do with what had your attention so long from the North side?" I asked and the necromancer looked at me with mild surprise.

"Yes," he said. "There is something left behind from the Greylands amid some of the rubble. Probably hard to see from the ground and why the Hellhounds either did not find it or made its clean up a low priority."

"What is it?" Mourn asked.

Gavin shrugged. "A corpse."

Of course.

"What kind?" Jael asked, hinting at general impatience.

"The flying mount."

I blinked. "The one that nabbed Brom and Mourn from mid-air?"

And dropped them on the roof sometime later after the rider lost them.

Gavin nodded. "Best that I can tell from up here."

Mourn and I glanced at each other.

"Do you need any assistance?" the half-blood asked.

"I would prefer to approach it alone," Gavin answered. "I don't know if there will be any danger to any of you should any foreign elements nearby, but better to play it safe, yes?"

"And how would you let us know if there was any danger to you?"

The necromancer considered for a moment. "What means would you prefer? A pearl, or I could use my mare or one of the Hellhounds to contact you, or I suppose you might insist someone accompany me."

The hybrid's golden eyes narrowed a bit. "Show it to us first. From up here."

Gavin acquiesced and we prepared to go out into the daylight again, hoods up and braced, and all of us walked across the mountain crown to the opposite side. We looked down and followed Gavin's long finger quickly darkening until it was black once again.

"Where are we looking?" Jael asked, squinting against the brightness.

"East of the temple, on the roof of the three-story manor."

Mourn said nothing, and I questioned whether he could even see it; I barely could in this light and at that distance; it was nothing more than a grey smudge. My Sister probably did not fare much better. I looked over at Tamuril to read her face instead.

There we go. Both the Druid and the Yungian could see exactly what Gavin indicated. By their expressions, I would have said each was a little concerned. Mourn subtly signed to Deshi and the young man spoke.

"It must be far larger than an ox," he said. "But it does not move and there is no...um, life aura."

"I must see it closer," Mourn said to Gavin, "at least from a neighboring rooftop. But once the area is clear, I can leave you to study it if you wish."

"It's on a roof that has been damaged," Deshi said with concern. "I would stay nearby to watch, Deathwalker, in case you need help faster than what a horse can bring back."

Gavin scowled a bit hearing both of this from Mourn and Deshi. He looked my way and I couldn't help but grin at him.

"You did almost slip down a mountain," I teased. "And with your bones, you might weigh as much as Sir Eric now. Are you used to that? Or is that why you slipped?"

My ally sighed deeply. "Very well, but I expect quiet when I am studying." He looked straight at Deshi when he said this. "If you get bored, I am not your entertainment."

The Yungian did not look offended at all. He bowed at the waist instead and seemed to be glad to have the job. "Understood, bakgwei."

A fine move on Deshi's part as well, I thought, to delay the testing about eating the breath of others or facing his brothers. I didn't mind either, I needed to get off this mountain eat something much more solid than air.

******

The three males split off from us as soon as we neared the streets, thankfully taking the actively rotting Hellhounds with them, and though Tamuril watched with concern after the "new" mystic, Jael and I were a bit more focused on what we needed. Or at least I was.

"Please do not abandon him," Tamuril said quietly as we walked toward the remains of the barracks.

I blinked to her in surprise. "What?"

Her eyes glittered in the daylight and I was a bit wary of tears beginning. "He has suffered so much. I do not know what agreement he made with the Maiden, but I know the necromancer does not care, though Mourn does. Deshi is caught in that raw moment which may determine the direction of his life."

"If he is even alive," Jael commented.

"He thinks and feels," Tamuril said to her, bordering on anger but calming when looked at me again. "He can use another dark one on his side. You can make a big difference, Sirana, one way or the other. He told me some of the stories in Yong-wen from when you first arrived. He can see your baby and that matters to him. He will listen to you, if you have anything to say."

And the Noldor would know, if she alluded to whoever had certainly *not* been on her side when she had returned from the Underdark, raw in more ways than one.

I frowned, squinting my eyes against the Summer Sun. "Tamuril... I'm really hungry right now. Help me find something to eat and I will listen to any suggestions."

The Druid smiled with more humor than I was expecting, as if I'd just said something pleasurably amusing. "Certainly."

Jael made a scoffing noise and glanced at me as if to ask me what in the Abyss I thought I was doing. I glanced down and signed near my hip.

*She wants one less compulsive killer on the Surface.*

Jael raised her brows. *Does she know about the Skin Hunter and the chain demon?*

*Not yet.*

She smiled impishly. *I want to be there for that one.*

I winked at her and let it be at that. My reasoning was true enough although I would not be drawing a direct connection for Jael between Tamuril's suffering and Deshi's right now. Jael knew enough to surmise it, perhaps, but she was still likely to use it as weapon the moment Tamuril annoyed her, if for no other reason than it was there and someone else would have done the same to her.

Except, maybe, myself. Why I did not care to do so... I wasn't sure. Back home I had simply enjoyed being the exception, the one acting differently that made her notice me. I liked that it had afforded me more influence on her and Qivni or some of my other more direct, less intelligent Sisters. I had felt I was out-witting them and building...something. Connections. Maybe like what Elder D'Shea had. So many compare me to her, after all, including Jael herself.

Of course, my Sister's general behavior toward non-Drow on the Surface had convinced me that Jael was closer to those other Sisters than I was. Perhaps I did her a disservice, and perhaps because of that, Mourn now had more influence on her than I did. Something the Kyton had found and tried to exploit.

I frowned as I felt a twinge in my stomach. Why had that creature not made one threat about my pregnancy in all that time? The Kyton had not even acknowledged it, and I had not noticed until now. Strange.

We returned to the well and what shade we could find in the waning, hot afternoon. Isboern was there to greet us, sharing a long, deep look with the blonde Elf.

"Krithannia will be in with Talov soon," he updated us. "I trust Deshi is back off the mountain?"

"Why are you asking me?" I said with a glance at Tamuril. "She already told you."

"Very well, Sirana, I am curious of your read on the situation."

"Ah, I like that better. Deshi wants action to distract from his fears that he will not be accepted while he remains here. He is out of the Guild with a new sworn loyalty but no transition yet. No time."

Isboern nodded in agreement, gesturing that I continue.

"So, now he looks to Gavin to give him something to do."

"And how does Gavin respond to this?" the Godblood asked.

I smiled. "He is trying to get Deshi to think about what he can do for himself, because it is what he would do."