#paxrin

There was a venomous look from the younger man as he glared daggers at the older vampire who was doing his best not to exasperate the situation by smiling before standing aside. A soft creak announced the coming of the witcher as he filled the doorway now, his leg brace singing it's soft chirp with each limping step. The rains had started again and had sent his knee into a mess of aches to match the tale of winter and coming of spring. This time of year was always rough on him no matter where Eld was.

The stench struck him first, where must would gag it would send him reeling back as he stared at the empty Lady. It felt like being underwater as he creaked his way into the common room, yellow eyes wandering the stones and ceilings as Eld breathed in the room. Eyes would gently shut as he thought back to younger days.

There was no merriment in the inn as the men gathered about the table, the grim lines of sweat to match that of their mouths. They wore light mail and short arms for close fighting, every inch of them covered in the steel. Summer was not the ideal time to be in full dress for war. At the head of the table stood a man with a hawkish face, his face grim and hard as he looked down at the map currently held to the table by tankards. The other end of the table told a different story with the man leaning over the table as well.

The man was covered in bandages about his face, his eyes wild as he looked a the map. His hair was held in loose clumps above the bandage while the usual bump where a nose should be was hidden tight by the yellow and black stained linen. A shaky hand would reach out to point at the map with what remained of his middle and ring finger. The others were gone but wrapped with similar linens.

"Right there, that's where we went in," gulped the wounded man. His words came out croaking and rough with as much shame as there was pain. The yellow eyed man would look up to him and stare calmly. One would think he was staring a the horrific injuries inflicted but to the witcher, he was far more interested in finding the truth of what the man showed them.

"You are sure, Paxrin?" The witcher spoke softly, the growl of his voice lessened as much as he could manage to try and keep Pax calm.

There was a quick couple of nods as Pax pulled his hand back, slipping it under his other arm to hide this wound. "Aye, Ser Eldridge. That be where we went in. Me, Ser Talbot, and his squires."

"How far did you travel in?" Eld asked calmly as he leaned forward from his vantage point to eye the entry point to the sewers under Jamurlak. "How long did it take? And when did you lose the others?"

Paxrin gulped softly as he shook in his spot, his eyes glazing over slightly as he stared at the map. A mail covered hand would come to rest gently on his shoulder as the woman beside him spoke just as she touched him. "Breath, Pax. We know most of this, but we need to be sure. We have to find her and clear this sickness out of the city You're the only one who's come back."

The man clearly shaking again coughed and nodded quickly. "Aye. Aye I know. Sorry. I'm...I'm trying. I swears."

"I know, Pax. I know," the lady knight spoke again, gently and calmly as she rubbed the shoulder now. "Tell us what happened again."

There was more swift nods as Pax kept his eyes on the map. "We went down at dawn, hoped we'd have the day hours on our side. Talbot lead the way as was his way. He'd sworn an oath to find his little brother. We all did."

With a nod of his head to the map again, Paxrin continued his tale. "Coll was in front of me. He told me to hold the lantern. I'm just a poet I told him. He just smiled. Gods he smiled. It would be okay. Be a poem of ages. Slay the witch. Clean the scourge. Avenge the brother. How we'd sing the songs. Coll said I'd be rich for years on people singing it."

There was a soft sob from the man as he tucked his ruined face toward his chest and shivered. A soft squeeze again urged him on through the grim stares of the other soldiers. "We walked into those sewers with such high hopes. They...they asked me to sing. They wanted a lively tune. Whiskey in the jaro. Barum dida dida deeda."

The final word came out as a hard sob. "Hours we walked. Bits here and there. They burned what they found but it was easy going for the most. I stayed in the back with Coll. He said he'd watch me. Talbot was getting frustrated. Saying we were taking to long. Said...said his family's honor must be upheld! Uphold it! Restore it!"

His final words were not strangled sobs, they were vengeful and angry. There was still a fire burning in there, but it was weak and wild. Eld kept his eyes on Paxrin still, waiting with patient ears and heart.

"We went up this shaft. The lord said we should split up. Cover more ground. We reached this corridor with the four points," Paxrin stared at the map toward the middle, all eyes fell on the cross point. "Talbot went forward. Told us to go left, me an Coll. The other two went right. Said we'd go and try to meet back in an hour if not before. We were to call out Talbot's brothers name if we found the witch."

"Ragvar," Paxrin whispered. "We didn't get far in the left tunnel. We heard them squires calling out the name."

"Ragvar. Ragvar," the poet whispered now the name of the lost brother. It was like conjuring a ghost with the power of the mad. "Then it go quiet. So so quiet."

Pax looked up to Eld now with wild eyes. "They came from all around. Like grapevines on a fence. They moved so fast. Coll grabbed the sword and swug it. Cut it but the sap. Oh gods the sap splashed all over. All over his head and face. The screams. The screams Ser. Don't make me go back to tit again. Please I beg ya."

Beside the lady knight beside the weeping man looked across at Eld. The witcher's arms were crossed as he rubbed his chin in thought. "Did she come for you?"

"Please ser. I can't I can't," the man was now becoming weaker as he slowly began to sink down against the table. "Don't make me go back."

Eld's voice sliced like his silver blade, his hand lifting slightly to splay his fingers in an odd formation with a whisper into the air. "Axii."

The bard began to calm some, his sobs slowly halting as his formerly closed eyes opened revealing his dialted pupils. As the sobs and came to a halt, his body relaxed which in turn brought an odd serenity to the formerly hysterical man. "She came. She found us in the center of the cross. I don't if she came from the right but the vines were all about her. Doing her bidding. Listening to her voice. She sang a song that did not match her sunken face. A lullaby of some sort."

"And she captured you?" Eld asked calmly as he locked his eyes to the bloodshot eyes of Pax, the other soldiers milling looking confused and uncomfortable by the sudden change in the mannerisms of the mutilated poet.

"Aye, she did." Pax answered, his eyes wide with clouded terror. "They ate use. Bit by by. Wrapped us up like babes while they leaked that sap upon us. She took the squires first. Bursting them like ripe fruit. Coll followed as he pushed me away, telling me to run."

"They grabbed him. Pulled him like a bully with a girl's doll. The sap, Eldridge. It just eats the flesh. It sprayed all over and I had to run but I had to get back to the back tunnel," His voice was starting to shake again, but he kept talking. "So many vines all over. Whipping about, I didn't know how to get by as I was just burning. Then I heard it."

"Ragvar," Eld murmured.

"You alright?" Duncan asked gently as he touched the witcher's shoulder.

Eldridge's head popped back up as he shook it softly to clear his thoughts. "Yes, sorry. Got caught up in a moment."

"Memories can be hard considering the trauma of what happened," Duncan continued to speak in his same calm voice as he squeezed gently again before letting go. "What do you think?"

"I think that this has all happened before," Eld replied as he looked about the room and then back to the vampire. "I don't why we came here."

Duncan knelt down gently to the black spot that was likely the last place Rufial had lain. His calloused fingers gently touched the ground and wipes. Soot. The vampire frowned as he rubbed his fingers together. "Seeing is believing as the saying goes."

The witcher nodded. "Then we're going to need to get into the southern quarter."

"Oh?"

Nodding Eld hobbled his way back to the door as he spoke over his shoulder. "The sewer entrance is that way. It will take us to the cross."

The vampire had to smile wryly to himself as he stood up, wiping his hand on his robe as he looked about the room once more. "How poetic."