Chapter 21: Chapter 18

The man looked confused. “Do I know you miss?” He was dressed like your typical druid. Dark green robes with wooden trinkets sewed into it. He had tanned skin, though not as dark as me, with strawberry blond hair and blue eyes. His face was typical of elves, with high cheekbones and a sharp chin. His nose reminded me of Izzy's.

 

In response Izzy changed her hair and eyes back to normal and said, “I would hope so.” She seemed to be trying to regain her composure, and in another moment she looked like her usual self.

 

“You know her, Riversong?” The nobleman asked the elf. Looking confused, though I'm not sure he could be much more confused than us. This is the first time I've seen Izzy lose her composure so badly.

 

“Yes, I recognize her now. It's good to see you again Ysileassa. I'd given up hope after the fall of Avonis.” He said. He seemed fine for having just run into his (supposed) daughter out of the blue.

 

“Actually I go by Izzy now.” Izzy said, “I couldn't have the church or their bandits figuring out who I was.”

 

“Still going by that old nickname, I see. Yes, it's best that the church not find out who you are, especially if you're working with the resistance. Welcome friends, I am Dimeldrithin Riversong and this is my good friend and compatriot, Arnold Gladstone.” Riversong said. There's no way I'm going to call him Dimeldrithin (pronounced Dim-eld-ry-thin), that's a mouthful and a half. Why are elf names so hard to pronounce, jeez. At least someone finally introduced the nobleman, Arnold.

 

Wait, hold up. Dimeldrithin Riversong, he has a last name. Which means he's probably a noble too? Why don't I just ask? “Are you a noble too, Mr. Riversong?”

 

“I am indeed. I am a count and have the qualifications of knighthood.” He answered calmly. Now I know where Izzy gets her poker-face. He may not look the part of a noble, but he certainly acts like one, as far as I can tell. Honestly these two are the first nobles I've ever met besides Argentian, but he doesn't count. Though I suppose Izzy is a noble too, but it's hard to see her that way given the way she talks.

 

“Let's get down to business, right Riversong?” Arnold interjects. “We called you here for a specific mission. You'll act under the orders of Riversong here and rescue some of our higher level members who've been captured. Ms. Blackhorn would be most familiar with them as they are her parents, Mist and Zendrik Blackhorn. Riversong managed to track their whereabouts to an old fortress a little to the south of the capitol. This fortress positively ancient and is supposed to be abandoned, but the church has taken it over and is using it to hold the two captive. They're probably being tortured for information as we speak so the sooner we can get them out the better. Any questions?”

 

I speak up with a concern, “I have one. If they have people strong enough to hold my parents there's no way we're strong enough to rescue them. We're level eight at the highest, after all.”

 

“That's where I come in.” Riversong began, “I'm an eighteenth level druid. I'll use a spell to transform into a dragon and draw all their high level actors to me, while you all sneak in and rescue the Blackhorns. I'm not going to lie, this is extremely dangerous, but it has to be done.”

 

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“And I've heard that Izzy here has experience with prison breaks, so she'll be invaluable.” Arnold said.

 

“I've had experience breaking out of prison, not in.” Izzy corrected, “I only know how to do the second half.”

 

“Fortunately that's the most important part. Escorting the, most probably, exhausted Blackhorns out is going to be the hard part.” Arnold said. “you'll leave tonight. The dark will cover your approach to the fort and Riversong will provide the distraction you need to get in and out. I expect you'll still encounter guards, but their heavy hitters should be out of the way. Good luck.”

 

“Well, we've got a Robe of Useful Items with a door patch so we should be able to make this work well enough. Is everyone ready?” Izzy asks. I'm as ready as you can ever be to meet the parents who gave you up as an infant. Oof, that doesn't sound too good, but I know they had their reasons. I've had a good life, no reason to criticize them now.

 

“Aye, le's do this lassies!” Argentian said, all gung-ho. He's probably hoping to cut down some unfortunate churchies. Can't say I don't wanna burn a few myself.

 

“Wait here until dark then take the secret passage behind me outside the city. There's only about an hour till sundown, so just be patient.” Arnold said reasonably.

 

From there we separate into two groups, Izzy and Riversong, and then the rest of us. Ya know, trying to give them time to catch up. Riversong doesn't seem like a very emotional person; he had basically no reaction to meeting his missing daughter out of the blue after all. We talked about this and that for an hour. I learned a few things about being a landed noble, and it's safe to say I'm glad I don't have to worry about all the problems that come with it. Technically Argentian is a noble of the robe, meaning that he holds a noble rank, but no land. He gets, or did get, a monthly salary from the kingdom in return for his military service. If he settles down somewhere once more he'll be able to collect it again, but I know he has no plans to do so for now.

 

Soon Arnold's butler comes in and whispers something in his ear. “Alright everyone! The sun has set so it's time for you to begin. May the fortunes of war be with you.” He says and then walks to the back wall and presses an unassuming stone brick, opening a secret passage. We enter the passage one at a time, Riversong in the lead.

 

The inside is pitch dark so I hold on to Argentian and help guide him along, knowing that he doesn't have darkvision. He grumbles about lighting a torch, but Riversong dissuades him not to. We'll have to keep to the darkness and sneak to the keep so, he persuades, it's better to adjust now. I think they'll probably be keeping a watch on the capitol to make sure no one goes exploring towards their bases in the area. The church can't rely on bandits in this area so they have to be more careful.

 

After a little while, probably less than half an hour though it's hard to tell in this monotonous corridor, we find a door blocking the passage. Riversong opens it into a small room. Looking up I can see a circular slice of the night sky. It seems we'll probably be climbing out of a fake well. Soon I'll be meeting my parents. I hope things go well.