“That’s quite a party trick, the snake,” Mery said to Dulrak.

The dwarf shrugged. “Selvank grants his druids the small miracle of transformation, but it’s not something I really like to do. I never feel quite myself for a long while. In this case, it seemed like a good plan, but I needn’t have bothered.” He pointed at the sword at Mery’s hip. “You should give that blade a name.”

“Becoming a snake didn’t heal the wound.” Isa waved her hand at her face. “Your face.”

“No, it can’t do that,” said Dulrak, and he touched the scar tissue gently. “I was never a great one for the ladies anyway.”

Lund knelt beside the priest and tugged off the dead man’s belt. “Why’d he even attack?” he said to Mery. “I thought you had him under your control.”

“Suggestion is a delicate balance. You have a dozen words – at most – to say what you want. I thought, since we were talking all civil, that we’d—”

“Shake hands? Go your separate ways.” Lund leafed through a small book that he’d pulled from the priest’s body.

“Is that his notebook?” asked Alice. She started to stand but fell back.

Isa rushed to Alice and felt her forehead. “Here, I saved one spell for you. Let me heal you, love.” She laid her hand on Alice’s shoulder and spoke the holy words that sat at the edge of her tongue. A green glow seemed to coalesce over Alice’s head and then dissolve.

“She’s not the only hurt one,” said Dulrak. “You and Lund aren’t in much better shape. Here, let me help.”

“I’ve got a potion.” Lund waved him away.

“No, you don’t,” said Alice. “You used it.”

Lund reached for his own belt and came away empty.

“It’s been quite a few days.” Dulrak patted Lund’s shoulder. “Meeting you four has proved exciting. And we’re not through it yet. Let me help.”

As soon as Dulrak moved away from Lund, Alice joined him beside the dead priest. “Is that his notebook? I want to see if I can figure out what spells he cast – both for my sake and Rik’s.” She looked up at the dwarf and smiled. “Scars are interesting and all, but if we can cure you, heal your face, we have to try.”

The dwarf growled, but then he smiled. “We can worry about restoring my beauty when we’re done with the work at hand. He finished healing Isa, and then said, “We have an urn to find. Anything useful in his things?”

Lund shook his head. “A few coins, a piece of obsidian, and a small book about some noble family.” He flashed the book up and then looked at the cover again. “Ever heard of House Fystead? Me neither, but someone wrote a book about it.”

Alice looked up from the book in her lap. “His name was Grego Fibroke. Fibroke, Fystead…. Poor relation maybe?”

Mery sighed. “Unless that book is going to tell us where the mummy’s heart is, you need to put that away until later.”

“As a matter of fact…” Alice began, and Isa clapped her hands and said, “My brilliant girlfriend.”

“Actually no.” Alice closed the priest’s notebook. “There’s nothing there. Wishful thinking.”

“No quests, no notations?” asked Lund.

“His main quest is ‘Serve Milgar, Lord of Decay.’”

“Nice one for the old resume,” Isa muttered.

“Does that sound familiar to you?” Lund asked Dulrak. “This is your land, not ours.”

Dulrak frowned. “There are many gods in the Hinterlands, and this not the land of my birth.”

“Is that a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’? Because I can’t tell.” Mery rested her hand on her hilt.

Alice stepped forward, not quite between Dulrak and Mery. “What’s happening? What’s with the aggro, Mery?”

“We don’t know who this guy is! He might be a mole, a spy. What was he doing here anyway? Maybe he was meeting up with the bandits, and we got in the way.”

Dulrak scratched his beard and stretched. “What could I say to make you believe me?” He shrugged. “Nothing. Nothing I could say is going to convince you of my intentions if you’ve made up your mind. So I say this: forget words; look to the deeds.”

“He did kill the mummy,” said Lund.

“You killed the mummy,” said Alice.

“The second time. He killed him the first time.”

“He’s done nothing but help us.” Isa slid her hand into Alice’s. “At every turn.”

Alice looked at Isa. “He could have killed us all last night, and he didn’t.”

“It’s always worth asking the questions.” Mery addressed Dulrak. “I’m not wrong; we made common cause, yes but….”

Lund raised his hands above his head. “First inn we come to, drinks are on me, but right now we need to find that urn. Otherwise we’ll be taking turns killing this mummy, and I don’t relish that.”

“Alright then, settled. We’re not always going to agree. Druids, we’re a queer lot, I don’t deny it. But my heart is true.” Dulrak then held up his hands and walked around the small chamber as if trying to sense which direction to go.

He said, “Either the heart urn is here, or it’s not.” This was met with silence. “And since we’re here, we should make a thorough search of the complex because the chances are just as good that the heart is here rather than stored elsewhere.”

“Ha!” Mery slapped her hands. “It’s here. It’s here, somewhere. The quest – the quest that poxy bandit had proves it.” She snapped her fingers at Alice. “You, walking, breathing compendium, what was their quest? What did it say again? ‘Recover’……”

Alice broke into a smile. “I told you: I didn’t read it, but I remember the important part. ’Recover the crown and urn.’”

“What if Dockma took it, though?” said Isa. “She got the crown, why not the urn?”

“Fuck!” Mery threw her hands up. “Thanks for ruining my day, Isa.”

Lund had been silent standing near the mummy’s body. He reached down and pulled one of its arms away from the torso. He pulled out a hand axe and began to hack at the mummy’s elbow joint.

“What are you doing?” Mery cried. “Have you lost your mind?” In response he tossed the severed forearm to Mery, who batted it away.

“We don’t know,” Lund said, “when this thing will wake up again – if it will wake up again now that the priest is dead.”

“Plenty more priests; we can count on that,” Alice said softly.

Isa looked at her sharply. “You think so?”

“Well, yeah. Where did he come from, Mister Fibroke? He was trained and supported by someone or a lot of someones, probably.”

“You two,” Mery poked her index and pinkie fingers at Isa and Alice, “are the good news twins. So just keep your insights to yourselves, alright? What this group needs – besides a good night’s sleep – is a short rest. Just an hour. And I can weave a little musical magical mystical spell to enhance your relaxation. Agreed?”

Alice peeked at her notebook. “I’m in,” she said. To Isa she muttered, “I have 16 fucking HP. I’m still technically bloodied.”

Isa dropped to the floor. “I’m in, too. Resting.”

Lund picked up the mummy king’s severed arm. “You could use this as a club. If you had to. In a pinch.”

“Improvised weapon,” Isa muttered.

“I think you could categorize it as a club,” said Alice. “DM’s choice, of course.”

“Who’s our DM? Ysel? Is that how it works, do you think?”

Alice shrugged and laid her head on Isa’s shoulder. “Shhh. Your girlfriend needs her beauty sleep.”

***************

Current Hit Points

Alice HP 16

Dulrak HP 32

Isa HP 23

Lund HP 31

Mery HP 38