Chapter 4

Wow it's been a while since I last updated. So sorry, but between school, real life, and not having internet for a long time I really have not had time or the ability to write/post.

Imoen, Anahit thought with relative calm as the barrel she'd just been hiding behind exploded into splinters, was going to get strangled as soon as they managed to get away from the crazy as fuck woman throwing lightning bolts everywhere. The brown haired dwarfling had yet to get a good shot into the woman since Anahit had told Silke that she wasn't going to go around shooting scared people just because the woman screeched at her.

Another thing exploded and Anahit hissed between her teeth as she heard Imoen give off a surprised cry. So far the pink clad human seemed unhurt hit but with the amount of things being destroyed it was only time before Imoen would be wounded.

The hin-dwarf looked at her crossbow before setting it down and grabbing for the small dagger on her belt. A birthday present from years ago it, was already showing signs of use from using it to cut off small branches and her practice with the training dummies back in Candlekeep. Anahit took in a deep breath, slowly letting it escape as the words of her trainers echoed in her ears. She had to be able to do this, Silke was as mad as the gibblings had been and more dangerous.

The young woman threw up a quick prayer to Deneir and an even quicker one to Tymora just in case before sliding between two crates. Who would have thought that Anahit learning how to use height to get out of chores would get useful so fast once out of the monastery? Silke was snarling out her spells by now, teeth bared in a snarl as she screamed at either of the girls to show their faces. 'Wow not very clever is she?' Anahit may not have fought others before but the guards at Candlekeep had always told her to keep calm in a fight.

Her opening came soon as Imoen dashed away from a crate and Silke turned, the spell at her lips as Anahit rushed out from her own hiding spot and slammed the dagger hard as she could into the woman's back hitting into what she really hoped was the kidney. Silke's concentration fell as she screamed causing Anahit to take a few shaky steps back. "You little BITCH!" The woman's face was white but she was still moving, her staff just missed Anahit as the smaller woman rolled out of the way. She had hit near the kidney, right? That meant that Silke would have to go down soon! "I'm going to tear you apart and put your head upon a stake!"

Both of them were panting though Silke was looking a lot paler than before and if Anahit wasn't mistaken the woman had started to sway. "Yeah? Well I guess you'll need something around to make yourself look better. I thought magic users had spells to get rid of wrinkles." The noise coming out of Silke's mouth did not sound human but her staff was much easier to get out of the way of than spells. An arrow buried into the woman's back and she screamed again, half turning to face Imoen. Anahit took the chance and grabbed ahold of her dagger sticking out of Silke's back, this time ripping it out with a noise that she didn't want to hear ever again.

Silke stumbled, this time the noise coming out of her mouth was a whimper as she fell to the ground. The woman's eyes focused on Anahit for a long moment, cursing her every being as the dwarfling stood there, blood soaked dagger in hand and heart beating fast. It could have been a second or years before Silke fully fell into the mud that her own blood had created but even if the woman had found the strength to throw another bolt of magic Anahit wasn't sure that she could have moved.

It was different than facing the frothing gibblings, Silke may have been trying to kill them but they had talked to her. Shouldn't Anahit be feeling something other than relief as Imoen poked her head up?

"Oh thank the Gods!" One of the men popped out from behind a barrel to help Imoen to her feet. "That b-woman was a monster! And absolute monster! I don't know how much money she would have taken from us if you hadn't arrived."

Trying not to show her annoyance at the men having not helped at all in the fight show on her face Anahit plastered on a smile as Imoen beamed at them. "You're welcomed. Do you by any chance know of a place in which four people could sleep for the night?" Maybe she could get somewhere to sleep for all of the trouble? THAT would show Montaron!

"Er.. we would love to do that.. dwarf? But um… well you see the matters that Silke was blackmailing us about… well let's just say that it would be awkward to explain to the wife…." The dwarfling took a deep breath and began to slowly count backwards from a hundred. "And neither of us could say that we're putting you up for a friend. Gossip and all that."

"Yes women do like to gossip," apparently sarcasm was as wasted on the men as it had been on Uleraunt. "Imoen are you alright?"

"I-I think so. She just attacked us! I had to shoot her and-" the human was shaking and rubbing her arms with her hands. "Good thing you took those lessons right?"

Having had enough Anahit yanked the quarter staff out of the dead woman's hands. If anyone wanted to shout 'thief' she would slam the fucking thing into a knee. "And here Garrick told us that she was just some poor little dear who was getting threatened by big bad men."

"I thought she was! I mean, Miss Silke told me that she was being threatened!" Garrick waved his arms around with widened eyes as if that would make them believe him better; Imoen had done the same trick much of her life.

"You owe us the four hundred gold. Or was she planning on killing us after we'd done her dirty work?" Anahit felt her anger rising as she kept on talking. How dare he try to trick them with his words and smiles? How dare he put her best friend in danger? "I think Imoen and I still get our gold for all that work."

"Silke had the gold on her!" Garrick looked offended as Anahit bent down and grabbed the coin purse off of the woman's body. "You're just going to take her stuff?"

"I'm taking the staff and the gold promised to us. Come on Imoen let's see if this gets us a room someplace." Anahit grabbed ahold of the auburn haired human and dragged her along down the street back to where they had left Xzar. Imoen blew a raspberry at the group of men and grinned as she dropped the gem she'd managed to snatch into her pocket.

The center of the town held a total of zero wizards. Both young women looked at one another in a panic as thoughts of the dead rising from their graves and dancing across the town raced through Anahit's mind. Oh Deneir what was she going to do? Was there some place that looked for crazy humans in town? Or perhaps some posters for lost things?

"Hello there little lady!" Anahit nearly jumped as someone called out behind them. Spinning around the dwarfling found herself face to face with a bald dwarf covered in rather scruffy armor. He was giving her a leering grin which she supposed was supposed to have her swooning. However the fact that he smelled like a brewery left alone too long and his few remaining teeth were caked in brown killed any chance of Anahit falling instantly in love. "Might I get to know the name of someone was pretty as you?"

"No." What god had she pissed off lately?

"Aww come on little lady. Just a name and I'll leave you alone!" Gorion had always told his daughter that ignoring pushy men was not bad manners. Not that many of the travelers to Candlekeep were interested in a dwarfling and the few that might have been would have been scared off Gorion's overprotective nature. When the dwarf male didn't take the hint and in fact got a bit closer Anahit wondered if hitting him over the head with her new staff would be worth the hassle. How had Imoen managed with all the noble brats that surrounded her when they had the chance?

"You know we don't see many dwarflings in this area. Hells I'd say you're the first one I've ever laid eyes on."

"Shove off!" The dwarf grinned at the long haired dwarfling who took a step back.

"In fact I think I've only heard of one dwarfling in these parts. Named Anahit from Candlekeep." The smile turned deadly as the axe in his hand went swinging towards Anahit. The metal smacked the leather of her armor and dug in causing Anahit to lose her footing as the dwarf pulled back his axe. Imoen kicked out at the man with all her might and managed to throw him slightly off balance giving Anahit enough time to take a couple steps back and bring her dagger up to fight. The dwarf grinned again as he looked at the almost useless piece of metal gleaming in the brown haired girl's hand. Her crossbow was slung uselessly on her back and Anahit doubted that the weapon would do more than take one blow from the axe. People around her were screaming and running away and Imoen was trying to keep out of the axe's swings as she grabbed for another arrow.

"Get him Sir Legs!" Anahit's jaw dropped as a giant spider leaped upon the dwarf and began to jab fangs at the weak parts of his armor not seeming to care when a leg was chopped off. Imoen took the distraction in more stride and finally fired an arrow into the face of the dwarf earning a screech of pain that soon turned into bubbling gasps as the spider bit into the wound and the dwarf slide onto the ground dead.

Looking over her shoulder to where the yelling had come from Anahit spied Xzar waving at her, a grin on his face. "Ewwwwwww," Imoen muttered as the spider skittered back to the wizard, its missing limb dragging behind it but with a complete lack of any fluids. "He zombified a spider?"

Deciding that she really did not want to know the hows or whys of zombifying a spider in such a sort amount of time Anahit gave an extremely grateful wave back as Montaron's swearing came drifting over from at least two blocks away.