Hello, Everyone!
How are you? I’m feeling great! Yesterday was the last day of school and my students are going away for the summer which leaves me with some more time to write about my dearest Mary!
The last time we were with her and her friends, they had just managed to get Fennec out from Nurvureem’s cavern. The dragon, however, awoke, saw that her victim was gone and followed them through the tunnels. A daring chase ensued, but our heroes finally managed to escape. Aurum shattered the entrance to the dragon's cavern and they were safe. Hopefully.
Now, let’s see what they’re going to do now!
Content warning: The text below contains descriptions that might be upsetting to some readers (torture, pain, disfugurement). Proceed at your own caution.
Mary and her friends stood by the buried exit and listened to Nurvureem’s yells and growls fading out in the distance. They heard some weak lizardfolk voices but they cut off abruptly. That’s what they got for warning their Mistress that her prisoner had escaped.
After it went quiet, Bruno inspected the collapse and confirmed that it was wide enough to hold off any digging attempts from the other side.
Only then, with the barrier between them and the dragon, the party was able to relax. They even started making a small camp. Bags were opened on the ground, bedrolls were taken out, the tiniest fire started and a pack of rations opened and split between everyone.
Fennec was lying down next to the fire, healed, fed and dressed up in Bruno’s spare clothes. He was sleeping restlessly, flailing around and jumping from the occasional nightmare. Mary couldn’t look at him without tearing up.
“How’s he doing?” she asked.
“Better,” Bruno said. “But it’ll take a long time for his wounds to heal completely, and his face will probably never go back to what it used to be.”
“His psyche, too,” Paulina said. “Torture like that is not so easily forgotten.”
Mary stared at the floor, trying not to think about what the dwarf has been through.
“Fortunately,” Paulina said, “there is an old druid in Belfast, who specializes in the ails of the mind. I hope they can help him in time.”
“Let’s take care of ourselves now,” Aurum inserted himself in the conversation, yawning widely. “Recover our strength, that sort of thing. That climb took the living hell out of me!"
Mary felt the same way. Her whole body was trembling from the exertion and the horrible experience in general. They agreed to take turns guarding the camp in order to sleep safely, and then continue their journey as soon as possible.
Mary had the second watch so she wrapped herself in her sleeping bag and closed her eyes. She tried to relax her muscles and slow down her breathing.
She felt like she was falling. Her feet were in the Roper's grip and its mouth was coming closer and closer, and closer…
She jumped up, cold sweat on her forehead and breaths shallow and fast. Aurum looked at her from the fire and raised his eyebrows. She smiled half-heartedly, shook her head and pressed her hands to her eyes. She wasn't in the Roper’s lair, she told herself. She was safe, her friends were with her.
It was fine.
She lied down and adjusted her bedroll to make it more comfortable.
But what if her friends weren’t there? She started breathing rapidly. The Roper's bloody mouth flashed in her mind and she snapped her eyes open.
She stood up and paced around the campfire to chase away the horrible vision. She looked at Aurum again, then at the sleeping dwarves.
Really, it was fine.
It was even more than fine, she continued her inner monologue while lying down again. She'd been able to plant the orange seed and do her task. Her Patron would be happy with her.
She closed her eyes and prepared to surrender her consciousness.
But what if he wasn't happy? What if she didn't plant the seed exactly where he wanted? What if he made her go back?
She pictured the metal rods near Nurvureem’s pools and imagined what it would be like to be hung from one of them and dipped in the acid, her skin reddening, and melting, and…
No, no, she needed to calm down. She needed to sleep!
Slow breaths. Muscles relaxed.
Sizzling flesh. Bones crunching in a Roper's mouth.
Mary stood up and put her sleeping bag away. She just… wasn't going to sleep.
What's the worst that could happen?
Bruno woke up to Mary frantically scribbling in her journal, eyebrows locked low on her forehead. She was trying to write down their whole encounter with the dragon. Maybe once it came out of her mind and on the paper, it'd stop tormenting her.
“Are you doing ok, Mary?” the dwarf asked. “You can go to sleep now.”
“Yes, yes.” She waved him off. “I just have to finish this.”
He put a hand on her shoulder.
“It’s ok if you’re feeling anxious,” Bruno said.
“I’m not feeling anxious!” Mary grumbled and pushed his hand away. “I’m fine!”
He didn’t say anything else. In fact, they spent the next several hours not saying anything else. When the others woke up, she took her eyes from her journal and met Aurum’s.
“Eek!” the bard shrieked, half-joking and half-concerned. “You look like a ghost! What happened, did you even close your eyes?!”
“Don’t worry, I’m fine,” she lied. “I slept a little.”
So, nightmares, huh? I can relate. After the Nurvureem sessions I was a restless sleeper for a week. IRL. It took a lot of me, I can imagine what it was for poor little Mary!
By the way, do you know what not-sleeping means in Dungeons And Dragons? That’s right! Exhaustion levels, baby! Currently, Mary has two, which means that in-game, she has disadvantage on any ability checks and her speed is halved. Let’s see if that’d reflect on her in any other way, shape or form.
See you in the next chapter where we start going back the way we came.
Until then, take care and be well!
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide and the Glossary for the series. You're welcome!)