From: aaron@space.ualberta.ca (Aaron Humphrey)
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 16:27:16 GMT
Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
Subject: [KQ] Maleiu[Outside the Warehouse] Purging And A Message

The KronQuestors made their way gingerly out to the street through the exit
'Raelf had effortlessly created for them.  Maleiu wondered at this strange man.
His speech was strange, although in some ways it reminded him of the dialect of
Dark Common that the islanders spoke...the same relaxed informality of tone.
But he seemed to craft the most powerful magics effortlessly.  Maleiu had
always distrusted magic to some extent, and had never embraced it like his
friend Ornigan.  But thoughts of Ornigan turned to thoughts of Mistletoe, and
he felt dizziness flooding back.

Then 'Raelf offered to purge the 'Questors' bodies of the substances they had
encountered in the basement.  Maleiu agreed wholeheartedly--he disliked the
feeling of lack of control, as he had the one and only time he had tried to
drink alcohol.  Expecting something like what 'Raelf had done to open the
passage, he was surprised suddenly to find his mind cleared and in control of
himself fully once more.  "Thank you," he said, and 'Raelf smiled.  Similar
murmurs came from other members of the group, especially Kron.

'Raelf then turned to healing, mending Captain's wound from the crossbow bolt
and others--no-one had come through completely unscathed.  He balked at Marcel,
though.  "That cyberstuff is heavy, y'know?  It's like a separate entity--not
part of the package deal.  Sorry, dude."

Maleiu had mostly a few nicks and scratches, but there was one gash on his arm
that needed attention.  'Raelf put his hand to the wound and scratched it once,
lightly, freeing a drop of blood.  He held it before him, and it seemed to be
somehow absorbed into his finger.  "Right--got the matrix," he muttered, and
then lay his hand on Maleiu's arm.  The wound didn't close or anything--it
just disappeared.  Maleiu felt momentarily dizzy.

"Remember, dudes, this healing's not gonna stick if you don't refuel, right?
I suggest you take a bit of a food and crash break before you take on the next
batch of evil dudes."

"Are you coming with us, 'Raelf?" Kron asked.

'Raelf shook his head.  "Sorry, dudes.  It's been fun and all, but I got some
stuff to clear up.  The timestream around here is all mucked up, and need some
serious debugging.  Right now I gotta go to the library."

Just then Maleiu's attention was distracted by a small form dashing towards
them.  A twelve-year-old boy stopped in front of him and said, "'Scuse me,
you Malayoo?"  Not waiting for an answer, he said, "Got a message from Nirvan."

Nirvan?  Maleiu had almost forgotten about the youth.  He'd run off after the
battle with the Wasters earlier, in pursuit of Slythe.  He could probably have
given them the information about the Wasters' HQ...

"Nirvan says that he was chasing the stretchy guy and he saw him meet with a
mage or something and the mage fried his brain and he fell.  My sister came and
took him in, and we got a healer named Tvarne to come and fix him up, and he
has to stay in bed the rest of the day so he doesn't get sick again.  Anyway,
he saw the Wasters guy and the others going into the Shunned Center just
before he got his brain fried.  He says don't bother to come get him, 'cause he
can't move until Tvarne says he can or tomorrow, and we can't find Tvarne
'cause he's on a boat."  He stopped to catch his breath, then he said, "And
don't tell anyone about my sister because it's a secret and nobody knows about
her.  Sssh."  He put a finger to his lips.

His message delivered, the boy dashed back into Low City, leaving a bemused
circle of KronQuestors around the spot where he had been.  Kron was the first
to break the silence, heaving a sigh.  "Shunned Center, eh?  Well, that's not
where the Wasters HQ is, but it's a mighty strange place for them to be going,
nonetheless.  The mage-type sounds like Seer, head of the Wasters.  Well, if
we're going to go have a rest and some lunch, let's go now.  Not back to the
Dragon's Inn--Nesters is closer.  Sound good?"

--
---Alfvaen(Canadian SF Quasi-Activist)
"What have I done to piss the gods off?"  ---Terence Trent D'Arby
Current Album--Mike Oldfield:Hergest Ridge
Current Read--Robert Heinlein:The Past Through Tomorrow