The Way The String Goes - Dungeons And Dragons

A Rush

They left the town with a warning, guards telling them that it was dangerous to go outside the city walls, especially to stay there at night, they paid no mind though, they were ready to be done with this mystery, they were ready to be done with Evermist, but would be Evermist be done with them? Only time will tell. Minutes melded into hours and they slowly changed their marching order once the one in front got tired and started walking slower, but they all felt their senses heightened by the deafening silence of the forest, every sound seemed menacing and suspicious, every creek and every cricket, they were tense, to say the least, to this point they were very aware of the pack of pissed werewolves to whom Susana belonged, the body of the murdered lover of their former employee Edgar Crowley was delivered to the geriatric golden Dragonborn that had become an acquaintance to some, a friend to others, he promised that if he saw Susana's pack he'll let them know which grave was hers so they could finally have closure.

They wouldn't say but they were all thinking about this, considering how they were going to break the news to Crowley, he was probably waiting there in the whispering cave, hoping Susana would arrive at any second. And so they walked and walked and walked, so much so that the sky was starting to change hue, from grayish light blue to a soft lavender splashed with vibrant orange and tints of red, it was really something, and seeing it framed by the tree branches, it seemed like nature was feeling inspired that evening, but it was getting cold, and when they went through the green tunnels caused by the trees merging on top of the path it was even colder still. Luckily, Joseph heard voices ahead, and the sound of something heavy being dragged, so they followed the noise, all to find a three-story wooden cabin pretty well made and a group of the most stereotypical lumberjacks one could see, even one older guy with red hair, red bear and red plaid shirt and overalls, Evan'geline had to hold back a snicker at the sight, but the atmosphere quickly turned tense as the men quickly turned and suddenly their tools felt like weapons, to this point the group was just tired and just wanted guidance to the whispering cave and maybe a place to wait for the morning to come.

— Hello, please, we mean no harm, we're just trying to find someone. — Evan'geline stepped forward trying to calm the men down but they kept their defensive stance and looked at them, one by one, their gazes landing on Joseph for a few uncomfortable seconds then looked at each other.

— There ain't nothing for ya 'ere outsiders, we' just doing honest work. — One of them that was offensively big and muscly stepped forward, ax still in hand, his mousy blonde hair was plastered around his forehead from sweat, which some of them found curious because it didn't seem like they were working just now.

— We are looking for a guy named Edgar Crowley that went missing, do you know anything about that? — Sirdan asked, not paying much mind to the tense ambiance, he was obviously high.

—Yeah, he's passed through a couple times, what about it? — the redhead older gentleman answered, so tense that Rajeem could see the veins on his forehead and neck thumping aggressively, with a soft move he picked a coin from his pouch and pressed to his lips as if giving it a kiss, and the once platinum coin quickly rusted against his skin as he sucked the metal from it, then he dusted off the rust from his fingers, he had become a master at this, doing it so quickly and naturally that no one would even ask or know, but the ones who knew he was feeding could easily know.

Once he did this the conversation became a blur, background noise, there was something on the three-story sawmill shack, then he saw movement on the circular window, and he noticed Joseph was looking in that same direction.

— We are going to need to search the house. — Joseph cut off the conversation and the men lowering their axes raised them back up.

— No can do fella. — a black-haired man with a beard so thick only his lower lip was mildly visible.

Evan'geline gave them a look and cleared her throat, — Actually, gentlemen we can, and we will, we have permission given to us by the burgomaster Farnobius to investigate and search what we need to. — she added the unfolding of the paper in front of them but the men just frowned as the redheaded one just scoffed.

— We ain't in Evermist right now girlie. — as he said this the three men launched forward to attack them, Eve caught the brunt of the ax on her forearm, holding back a scream once she felt the metal meet bone.

She noticed Rajeem about to attack the one who hurt her but she noticed Joseph already running inside the shack, — Go! we got this.

The woman smiled at the hesitation, it made her heart melt to see that he cared for her, but now he was out of her eyesight her smile turned dark and her neck cracked a bit when she cocked her head and her gaze seemed to unfocus, — I do not appreciate that you did this sir.— as she said this, she let her dummy fall to the ground, startling the men when they saw he didn't flop to the ground but instead she was standing on his little shiny shoes and in the most unsettling type of movement possible Evan ran inside the house after Rajeem. The unsettled lumberjack almost fell back when he jumped away from Evan'geline when he saw how bloody threads crawled up her neck and her skin started to harden and the texture also started to appear more like aged bleached wood, suddenly her jaw dropped and her face looked just like a wooden doll, and a voice came from her chest, — Now now sir, you are only to use that ax on wood and I'm a real girl.

The man, disturbed by her appearance stumbled back and fell sitting in front of her while the others tried to deal with the two other men trying to go into the shack, as for Evan, he skittered upstairs to find Rajeem and Joseph looking around a cozy room of course with all wood furniture, a bed, a desk, a chest, not as beautifully carved as Crowley's work but decent, also they noticed a big closet, its big and heavy-looking double doors closed but the two men knew there was someone inside it.

Just as Rajeem was about to approach the closet it burst open, pushing the pale man back, but even at that frantic moment they could see the silvery fangs, white hair, and red eyes that immediately gave him away, about what he was, they saw him run and without any hesitation, he jumped through the circular window, it was a three-story house so the man wasn't ordinary at all. Joseph was a big man so he didn't even consider pulling that same stunt and went for the stairs. Rajeem on the other hand, followed the man with whom he shared a lineage.