priest remained in the grip of a killing frenzy. But Leontis stood apart from Haaken's ravaged body. He was covered with blood, but he was human once again, his fury spent. Without speaking, Diran, Ghaji, and Tresslar walked over to examine Haaken. Makala joined them a moment later.
Haaken had also returned to human form, but he was a grisly sight. His chest and abdomen had been ripped open, ribs broken, internal organs shredded or torn out and cast aside by Leontis in his bestial fury. There was blood everywhere, and Haaken was covered in it, so much so that his skin looked black in the moonlight. But even mutilated as he was, Haaken was not dead.
Haaken coughed, and a froth of blood oozed from between his lips. Then he spoke in a gurgling, wet whisper.
'I can… already feel myself… healing.' He coughed again and swallowed. 'Hurts. But… I can take it. I'm… going to kill every last one of you… bastards.'
Ghaji had retrieved his axe, and with a thought he caused its flame to ignite. 'Big talk from a man who's been gutted like a fish. Since Leontis has already gone to the trouble to fillet you, maybe I should go ahead and cook you.' Ghaji started forward, but Diran placed a gentle hand on his friend's shoulder to stop him.
'Fire won't kill him, Ghaji. You know that.'
'Maybe not normally,' the half-orc growled. 'But wounded as he is, flame just might kill him. Let's try it and see.' He glared at Haaken. 'If nothing else, it'll make me feel better.'
Diran shook his head. 'There's only one way to be sure.' The priest walked over to the statue of Nerthatch and gripped the hilt of the silver dagger protruding from the chest. He pulled, and though the dagger was wedged tight, Diran managed to work it free. He then walked over to Haaken and stood by the lycanthrope's side. Haaken's heart was visible, and though it had several large gashes in it, the organ continued to beat, and Diran could see that the gashes were already beginning to heal over.
'Are you going to… stab me?' Haaken asked. His voice had grown stronger and steadier in the few moments since he'd last spoken. 'Coward!' Haaken spat a gob of bloody sputum at Diran, but it fell far short of hitting the priest.
'Go ahead, Diran,' Ghaji said. 'If he heals, he'll just go on killing. Worse, he'll spread his infection to others. He doesn't deserve to live. He's just another damned monster.'
Diran looked at Haaken, then he looked at Leontis, and finally at Makala. He remembered what Leontis had told him during the voyage from Trebaz Sinara.
You are Purified, a servant of the Flame, and a force for Good in a world that sorely needs people like you. Don't let your grief turn you back into a heartless killer.
'Let the city watch or the Sea Dragons decide what to do with him,' Diran said. 'I've had enough of death for a while.' He turned his back on Haaken and started to walk away, but Makala took hold of his wrist and stopped him.
Diran turned to her, a questioning look on his face. She reached out and gently took the dagger from his hand. As soon as her flesh came in contact with the silver hilt, her hand began to sizzle and smoke, but she gritted her teeth and held onto the blade. She stepped over to Haaken's side, knelt down, and plunged the blade into his heart. Haaken's eyes went wide and he let out a last gasp as he died.
Makala stood and turned back to Diran.
'I never did like the son of a whore.'
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
Ten days later, in the hour just before dawn, the companions once more stood upon Regalport's central dock. A longboat was moored on the dock's northern side, and the Turnabout, whole and hardy once more, floated out in the middle of the bay. Onu, wearing his human shape and clad in his signature crimson jacket, stood gazing at the northern horizon.
'Looks like we're going to have good sailing weather today,' the changeling said. He glanced at Hinto for confirmation, and the halfling nodded.
Diran smiled. 'It seems as if you're well on your way to becoming a true seaman, Onu.'
Onu reached down and patted Hinto on the back. 'My recent gains in nautical knowledge are due entirely to the tutelage of my new first mate.'
'Do you really think you'll be able to pay off Thokk's debt?' Ghaji asked. 'From what you've told us, he spoke little about it to you. Do you even know where to start?'
Onu shrugged. 'As to whether or not I'll succeed, only the gods of fortune may say. But I must try.' The changeling smiled. 'It's my own debt to Thokk, you see. We'll return to Kolbyr and begin there. Thokk did a great deal of business in that city, and perhaps there are some there who knew him better than I. At any rate, it seems a logical place to start.' The changeling looked at Tresslar and smiled. 'Besides, I have a passenger to conduct there.'
The artificer looked suddenly uncomfortable. 'Even with the aid of the best artificers in Regalport, I haven't made much progress cleansing the Amahau of the taint it incurred when I used it to drain the mystic energy from the statue of Nerthatch. But I believe there's a chance that the magic of Illyia's water spheres might prove effective where other approaches have failed. Water does have inherent cleansing properties, you know, and if I can adapt her spheres-'
'You want to do a lot more to her spheres than adapt them,' Hinto said, grinning.
Tresslar scowled at the halfling, but then he just shrugged and smiled sheepishly.
'I think it's sweet,' Yvka said. 'But be wary. I've managed to convince the Hierarchs of House Thuranni to… table their interest in the Amahau, especially now that it's been tainted. But if you do manage to repair the wand, the Hierarchs might decide to renew their interest in obtaining it.'
'I'll be careful, Yvka,' Tresslar said. 'Thanks for the warning.'
The elf-woman turned to Solus. 'The Hierarchs are still most interested in obtaining your services, though. While they've abandoned the idea of doing so through force or trickery, they've authorized me to make an offer of employment to you, and the compensation would be most handsome indeed.'
'Please thank the Hierarchs for me, Yvka, but I must decline. The uses House Thuranni would put me to would be no different that what Aldarik Cathmore and Galharath would've done with me. Though I was given life some time ago, I have only recently begun to learn what it means to truly live. I believe I can continue to best do that be remaining my own person. I hope you understand.'
Yvka smiled. 'I do indeed, my friend. I not only understand your decision, I applaud it.'
'Besides, Solus is going with us,' Hinto said. 'I'm going to teach him to be a sailor.'
'I find the open sea calming,' Solus said. 'The thoughts of its denizens are simple and unclouded by negative emotions like deceit and greed.'
'You've never run into any pirates,' Tresslar muttered.
'I fully understand what Solus means,' Leontis said, looking toward the eastern horizon. 'The world below the waves is a very different place from the world of land, air, and sun. It has its own rhythms of life, rules of existence, and codes of behavior. In many ways it's a much harsher world than this one, but it's more honest as well.'
There was nothing else to do then than to say farewell to those who were bound for the Turnabout. Words were exchanged, as well as handshakes and hugs. Then Onu, Hinto, Tresslar, and Solus boarded the longboat. The halfling untied the mooring lines, and the psiforged used his telekinetic powers to back the boat away from the dock.
Onu called out, 'Good sailing to us all!' Then Solus propelled the longboat across the bay toward the waiting elemental galleon. It didn't take long for the party to board the vessel, and the ship set sail soon afterward. The remaining companions watched as their friends sailed out of Regalport's bay. The vessel looked like a normal galleon, but that was just its illusion in effect. Once out to sea, Onu would order the air elementals to be activated, and the ship would head off at full speed toward Kolbyr.
'I'm surprised the shipwrights were able to repair the Turnabout in such a short time,' Ghaji said. 'Actually, given the severity of the damage she sustained, it's a wonder they even tried.'
