In Search of Redemption

[Ria Hawk]

The night passed uneventfully.  Daios was dead to the world, completely exhausted.  It actually took them a few tries to wake him up in the morning; he kept falling back asleep.

After they had eaten something, Daios led them back to the underwater tunnel he'd found.  The water was very cold, but he'd been expecting that.  The tunnel was easily large enough for the others to swim through as well.  It wasn't far, it only took one breath.  The pool opened into another cavern, deeper into the mountain.  Daios boosted himself out of the pool, already shivering.  His oversized clothes stuck to him, showing how painfully skinny he really was.  Even through the matieral, it was easy to see his ribs.

As the other two got out of the pool, Daios concentrated.  It was still difficult to do it on purpose, but after a couple of minutes, a small ball of light formed in the air a few inches above his head.  It was bright enough to light an area about fifteen feet around.

Daios started wringing water out of his clothes, but froze when he heard a sound.  It wasn't a goblin, but it sounded like someone was moving.  Then, just outside of the light, someone spoke.  "Who are you?"  A tall man stepped into the light, blinking at them in confusion.  He was tense, like he expected trouble, but unarmed.  He'd been injured, recently, if the bruise on his forehead and blood matted in his hair was any indication.  "Where am I?"

[Lanfear57]

 "Yea gods man, are you all right?" Silas saw the man was in very poor condition, and hoped that he was able to remember enough of the scant first aid knowledge he had picked up in the Arena. "Hold still, we're not going to hurt you. Let me find something for your head?" he mumbled into his bag, looking for the cleanest thing in there. He looked for Alton, to have him share some of whatever that drink was that he had given Daios, but Alton was nowhere to be seen.

**

Alton had seen the injured man, and had thought, bait. Slipping into the shadows, he looked around to see  what or who might have injured him, and if they were looking for more prey. He neither saw nor heard anyone for several dozen paces, but did find a pack which he thought belonged to the man. He grabbed it and headed back towards the one light in the cave, the slightly eerie glow of Daios' magic.

[Ria Hawk]

"Uh...  I think so.  My head hurts, a little, but I guess that's normal enough."  He gingerly felt the injury.  "Someone... someone hit me.  d**ned hard, if this knot's any indication.  Probably lucky they didn't break my skull in."  In the stronger light, he looked disoriented.  Both Alton and Silus had seen enough head injuries in the Arena to know he most likely had some sort of concussion.  "Where are we, who are you, and what is that godawful stench?"

Daios was staring timidly.  He was still a little nervous, but this new stranger didn't seem to be a threat to him.  "Um, Daios is me.  In caves, at edge of mountains.  Smell is goblin, maybe cave for them before, but gone now."  He was sure that any goblins that had used this area hadn't come in the way they had; at home, goblins were truly appalling swimmers.  "Your head, sure is not bad?  Looks bad."

The stranger frowned at him, clearly trying to follow Daios's broken common.  He had the look of a man who was having trouble concentrating.  "... Right.  I suppose if there were goblins in this area they'd have killed me by now.  As for my head, headwounds always bleed like mad, and almost always look worse than they are."  He reached for the pack that Alton had found.  "Is that mine?" he asked uncertainly.  "I guess it is."  He started rummaging around in it, frowning.