Chapter 8: The Wormwrithings

Xeliss curses, moving forward as far as she can to keep an eye on her remaining friends and sending the shield guardian towards the beholder, where it makes 2 fist attacks.

Melpomene snarls and begins to slowly close her hand; the giant one mirrors this action, slowly curling its fingers around the beholder and crushing it in its grip.

Mai'ngor shakes off the drowsiness that tries to overtake him. The tikbalang neighs angrily as Sarith is slain right before his eyes. Then, he sees the pile of ash, and at first he doesn't comprehend what it is, but he sees Elayna standing there, and the horrifying truth hits him. Hunter's gone. Shifting to a one-handed grip on Sinag, he draws his kris and charges the beholder.

Elayna stands, rising from Hunter's ashes with the opal pendant in her hand. Her grimed face bears the streaks of loss from her eyes, and her brunette hair hangs like brown willow branches caked with cave dust and oil. Almost instinctively, she touches the copper wire looped around her ear, a gift from her best friend in these terrible times. She concentrates, closes her eyes, and remembers her tutelage to send a Message she hopes will be received, yet deep down she knows it will not reach. A sob escapes her lips as the truth is realized.

Numbly, ignorant of the battle's climax, she shuffles towards Sarith's body on legs that seem stiff. Elayna falls to her knees and hesitantly reaches for Sarith's hand, as though even departed she feels shy about touching him. She focuses her will, takes a deep breath, and finally clasps her fingers intertwined with his. She bows her head, mourning the missed opportunities, and silently honors the sacrifice made for others to survive. Reverently, Elayna takes the small crossbow, a weapon that Sarith sought to train her with during camp, and rests the drow's hands upon his chest.

Eventually, the invisibility fades and Xeliss stands amongst the bodies. "Is this it? Are we all that’s left?"

Mai'ngor is angrily cutting out all of the beholder's eyes. He holds that accursed drow sorcerer accountable for what just happened here today.

Elayna finds a place in her equipment for Sarith's crossbow, putting it within easy reach. As for the opal pendant surrounded by diamonds, she looks at it for a long and quiet moment, before placing it around her neck.

Once settled, Elayna draws herself up to her full height and takes a deep breath. She reverently unclasps Sarith's piwafwi and walks over to Mai'ngor, holding the cloth open to wordlessly receive the large central eye. Her own eyes are distant in thought, though briefly focused upon the gruesome and necessary task.

Mai'ngor helps Elayna bundle up the trophy. "I think we need to shelter somewhere before we return to Vizeran. Do you think we'll be safe in the beholder's lair?"

"Maybe we don’t stay right here... there has to be another room..."

"I doubt this room is its lair. One such as this would have surrounded itself with the trappings of its perceived power and grandeur."

Elayna is hesitant, opening her mouth as if to say something, yet pursing her lips despite. Finally, she says in a mousey voice, "Maybe the slaves know."

Melpomene kneels gently beside the pile of ashes and lays a beautiful cloth beside them. Carefully and reverently she shifts the ashes onto the cloth, then ties them tightly and places them within another bag. Her actions are gentle, but her face is still suffused with rage.

She stands and unknowingly smears the ashes across her cheeks as she wipes away tears. She stalks over to Sarith's body as the others confer. She kneels and pulls out her lyre, and begins singing and playing a song that is familiar to the others, yet laced with a level of rage and grief that wasn't there before. Slowly the magic coalesces around them both, before settling onto Sarith's body.

Mai'ngor surprises himself when he rushes over and clasps the drow's arm in a sincere gesture of amity. "You and Hunter were slain by the beholder's magic. I am glad Melpomene was able to bring one of you back."

"Sarith?!" Xeliss stares at him and Melpomene in shock.

Elayna wails, unable to suppress the tears from a whiplash of emotion. She throws her arms around Sarith and sobs.

When she collects herself, Elayna rubs her eyes and holds out the hand crossbow. "Dummy," she says, choking the words out. "You almost lost this."