The final chapter

	In the light of the morning, Linus took the time to bandage his headwound again, changing his dirty gauze for clean.  When he walked out to see Viri sitting awkwardly with Chrissy at the front desk, both women did a double take.  “Linus?” Chrissy asked incredulously.  “What happened to your dreadlocks?”

	Linus fingered the bandage.  “Cut it all off,” he said wearily.  “They were a liability in the fight.”  He shrugged.  “There’s nobody around here who can read the tribal markings in them anyway,” he added.  His parents had taught him the style before he had parted from them, and it was very unlikely that there were any other Chultan expatriates in the area.  “So why not?  My head needs to heal, anyway,” he said.  He sat down beside Viri at the counter.  “You’re looking better,” he said.

	She shrugged unhappily.  “I suppose I feel a bit better.”  She rose.  “I think I just want to go home.”

	“I see.”  Linus nodded at the bubbling cook pot.  “I think I’ll just have a quick bowl of soup, Chrissy.  I need to fly my friend home.”


	The wind whistled past the pair of them as they rode over the trees to the Near Green.  The distance was far enough that Noble couldn’t make the trip all at once, so they were just starting out higher before Noble would land.

	Linus felt his heart growing heavy as he saw the massive clearing appear through the trees ahead of them.  “All right, my friend, let’s land,” he said, and Noble dove to the ground.

	When they landed, Linus dismounted and let Viri ride.  Linus kept a guiding hand on Noble’s neck, gently directing them.  Viri was quiet, but not silent.  As they walked, she managed to talk a little bit.

	“I don’t know what to tell the Flock Mother,” she said.  “Lumira has died, and so did all of those who abandoned our flock for their tempt.”

	Linus had no easy answers.  “Just be honest, I guess, as hard as it is,” he said heavily.

	“It’s all I can do,” Viri replied.  She shielded her eyes and looked up towards the distant clearing, but it was still behind the trees.  “What will you do now?”

	“Go to Neverwinter and muster an army to defend Conyberry,” Linus said.  “I have to.  If there’s a Gnoll Warband around here large enough to overrun the village, powerful enough to corrupt Gillint, the city has to be warned.  Maybe… maybe I can convince Neverember to sacrifice Conyberry in a holding action to save Neverwinter from the full strength of the horde,” he muttered.  “It’s better than the city getting hammered by an army of gnolls.”

	Viri turned back over her shoulder to stare at him in horror.  He met her gaze sadly, but steadily.  “That’s war, Viri,” he said quietly.  “That’s survival.  That’s what happens when people let Yeenoghu into their hearts, even if they don’t know it.”  He turned his eyes to the path again.  “It’s horrid, but there you have it.”

	“How can anybody live like that?” Viri demanded.

	“Not voluntarily.  Trust me, nobody here wants demons and things to come attack them, or to be mind-controlled to do things,” he said.  He shrugged.  “That’s the Abyss for you, though.  Not greatly concerned with consent.  Devils at least pretend to care, and daemons can be bought, but demons?  Pure madness.  Nothing more or less.”

	Viri shuddered.  “I think I shouldn’t come back here.”

	Linus nodded glumly.  “I understand.  It won’t be safe.”

	They walked in silence until they reached the abandoned Near Green.  The portal had shrunk greatly since opening, but it was still there.  The market was gone, replaced by a few dozen guards with pikes and bows standing at the foot of the stairs, keeping watch.  Linus directed Noble up to the top of the stairs and helped Viri down.  “Well, Viri, I think this is it,” he said.  He removed his gloves and gauntlets to give her a hug.  “I’m sorry it went the way it did, but I am glad we could speak again.”

	“Goodbye, Linus,” Viri said sadly.  She brushed a tear away as she returned the hug.  “I’ll miss you.”


	Linus’s heart grew heavier yet as he saw her disappear into the portal with one final wave.  He had failed her, and he knew it.  If he had been home from the Jackalwere battles at Landwells just eight hours sooner, he could have prevented Lumira’s poor conduct from turning things destructive, and for sure he could have stopped Slicce from infiltrating the party if he had been there to break it up.

	And now, Conyberry was on the brink of war.  Again.  That village just could not catch a break.  First a ghost, then bandits, then earthmotes, then Netheril, then werewolves, and then a catastrophic earthquake.  Now gnolls!

	He sighed and mounted Noble again, and the two of them took to the sky.  It was time to go to work.


	By the time he was back in the inn that night, he was still feeling a bit down, but a solid day of preparations and casting had cleared his mind.  Rituals of carity and meditation had let him restore his emotional center well enough that he managed a smile when he sat down at the table to take his supper.

	The tone in the inn was muted.  Not everybody had emerged from the revel well, and at least one was still in Father August’s care, being tended to for internal injury.  As he ate at his table alone, he watched the early summer sun pour through the window and cast a golden light over the floor, throwing shadows from table legs and stools.  He had a sudden mental image of the shadows being the beams of houses consumed by the flames of a Gnoll warband and looked away.  Not yet.  They still had time.

	As he rose to take his tray back to the counter, he felt a distinct buzz in his mind, and he sat back down.  That was a Sending spell, and no mistake.

	To his surprise, however, he heard a voice he did not expect.  ‘Knight Vorth, this is Othla Roaringhorn of Waterdeep.  Please dispatch a description of the Conyberry Project’s current progress and threats to my office.’

	Linus frowned.  ‘I have never heard of you, nor of your office.  If you work for the Alliance, respond with the proper code phrase at once.’

	Some moments later, another spell arrived in his mind.  ‘For the safety of our collective, and for a better Sword Coast.’

	Linus replied in his mind.  To the rest of the patrons, he was moodily staring into the remains of his pheasant and potatos.  ‘Acknowledged.  Report shall be dispatched to Waterdeep.  Colony office or Council or Masked Lords?’

	Moments later, he had his reply.  ‘Colony office, Lords’ Alliance liaison, priority message.  Can confirm reports of demonic activity from Farview Company?’

	Linus blew out a breath.  Of course the Farview lads had called it in.  Who wouldn’t?  ‘Confirm, Yeenoghu demon, further escalation of attack imminent, investigating, require extensive aid, defend walls and Neverwinter.’

	No more messages arrived, so Linus rose with his tray and returned it.  He knew just where to buy the things he would need to write the report.


	Chrissy yawned and shuffled out of the kitchen an hour later, leaving the cook to finish closing.  The inn would stay open through the night as always, and now that they had more employees, they could afford to let the day shift rest a bit earlier.  A candle burning in one corner caught her eyes.  When she looked, she saw Linus sitting there with a stack of papers in a bundle with Kordo’s Pawnshop stamped on the box, scratching away.

	She walked over to him and waited until he noticed her.  “Sir?  Can I get you anything?” she asked.

	Linus yawned and set down his quill.  “No.  I’m almost done, thanks.”

	“Big, secret things, hmm?” she asked playfully.

	“Yes,” Linus said.  He felt his joints pop as he reached out to grab the next piece of paper.  “Not for long, though.”  He looked up at her and smiled.  “Sit.  You look like you wanted to ask me something.”

	“I did,” Chrissy confirmed.  She sat across from him as he resumed writing.  “I wanted to ask… what exactly happened the other night?  My father was there, but he won’t talk about it.”

	Linus felt that like a kick in the stomach, but he forced a neutral expression on his face.  “Well… do you know what a satyr’s magic is?”

	“Well, it drives them mad.”

	Linus hesitated.  “Close.  It drives them to lose control of themselves in the pursuit of hedonistic pleasure.  Some don’t stop for consent first.”  He sighed as Chrissy recoiled in disgust.  “Sorry, there’s no nice way to say that.”

	“So they’re evil?” Chrissy demanded.

	“Some are,” Linus said.  “Some aren’t.  Lumira didn’t think she was, but I do.”  He pushed the last paper away and began sealing the packet.  “I’m sorry, but I’m going to respect your father’s hesitation beyond that point.”

	“And now there’s some kind of demons on the way?” Chrissy asked.

	“Yes.  And gnolls leading them.”  Linus rolled the papers and slid them into a tube.  He scooped wax from the candle and pressed it on the lid, then pressed his own holy symbol against it.  “There.”  He looked Chrissy in the eye as she reeled.  “I promise, I’ll put my life on the line for this village.  I can’t say you shouldn’t be scared, but don’t worry.  A clear head helps you plan.  I’m going to enact reconnaissance against the Gnolls and see where they’re coming from, and how many.  Once I know that, we can prepare defenses.”

	Chrissy took a deep breath.  The sun was down past the windowsill now.  The dim lights of the inn grew brighter as the innkeeper poured oil in the wells of the lanterns.  “And then what?”

	“We dig in and get ready to fight or evacuate, depending on what Sir Isaac and Lord Neverember decide,” Linus said decisively.  He stood, scroll tube in hand.  “I ask for your trust, Chrysanthemum.  I promise, I won’t leave Conyberry twisting in the breeze.”

	She looked sadly up at him, but nodded anyway.

	“Thank you.”  He pushed in his seat and grabbed his helm.  “I need to deliver this.  I’ll return soon.”

	Outside, though, he hung his head.  That had been a painful and obvious deflection of her question, but the fact that her father had quite probably been raped the previous night was not something he felt like discussing in much detail.  He squared his shoulders and sprang up on Noble’s back.

	“Off to Waterdeep, my friend,” he ordered, and they soared off into the growing shadows of the night.  Chrissy watched from the window, wondering if he would return before the end came down on them all.