~~~ Faith, Love and Shattered Hearts ~~~

It seemed a peaceful day in Treegum as Sarah landed on the docks, just next to Elfred’s food stand. Glancing around, the town seemed its usual bustle, the square filled with small clusters of people going about their daily business.

As she stepped off the dock, however, and onto the rocky dirt of the road, a strange feeling washed over her. It was something inexplicable and elusive. She felt as though something great was to happen this day. Something… tragic?

The feeling passed just as soon as it had come and she found herself gazing upon the pleasant smile of Elrebril, “Hi Sarah”, he greeted her. She returned the greeting and began to glance around again before his next words caught her off guard.

“Check it out, Kasak has a pet fiend.” He stated, almost excitedly. The feeling wasn’t at all new to her. How many times she had felt it in the past. That same inwards sigh as if to say, ”Gods, what has he gotten into this time…”

Before she could even question Elrebril further about the subject, a nearby guard who had overhead stepped over, “I need to bring that in…” he interjected. His issued adornment identified as one of the “Elite” guard members. Continuing, he explained that this pit fiend Kasak had been parading around town, had killed a Halfling in the Black Orchid some hours prior.

“I’ll look into this…” Sarah said, muttering under her breath. Oh the trouble Kasak could get himself into. Himself and, consequently, everyone around him. Reasoning with the man… or is it woman? Elf. Reasoning with the elf had proved to be impossible, only ending in further frustration on Sarah’s part.

Talexis, a friend of Kasak's, made mention that he was certainly not in his temple with said pit fiend, which, naturally, meant that’s exactly where he was. So, Sarah hastily made her way to the “Temple” of Joe.

She had never really liked the place. The constant smell of mushrooms and ale had nearly made her vomit on several occasions, as well as feeling light headed. Then there were the times she had woken to find herself laying naked on the alter there, her form altered in some way as Kasak and Tananda were so bent on ”helping” her. She never knew quite weather to take it as an insult, an act of love, or just plain insanity. Perhaps a mixture of all three.

Braving the heavy, rancid air, she made her way into the back room. The doors were already opened and, upon entering the rear chamber, she found why. There were Kasak and Tananda standing near a mephit of some sort, all of them basked in an eerie red glow emitted from the crystal behind them.

She glanced around the room as Tanda and Kasak said hello. “This is the fiend?” she said, pointing to the mephit.

“That’s Fido.” was Kasak’s reply. She explained what the guard had told to her. That this fiend had killed a Halfling in the Orchid. Kasak explained how it was self defense after the Halfling attacked him for winning a card game. Soon after, Gorethan and Elrebril entered the room. Sarah continued to question the matter, but was only more and more confused by their responses. When Gorethan mentioned that the guard was on his way to deal with the problem, they all seemed to agree to kill him when he arrived!

For a moment, Sarah began to wonder if there was some spell placed on the lot of them… lending to evil thoughts or moral-less insanity (well… more so than usual). As she stood there confused, the sound of a door crashing from its hinges echoed through the cave corridors behind her. The guard had come, knocked, then proceeded to bash the door in. In her current state of confusion and utter frustration, Sarah thought it best if she just not be involved with what was about to transpire and, thus, slipped out of the room, sneaking past the entering guard, unseen.

As she moved for the exit, she decided to turn back and listen in on what was being said between them all. The guard immediately pinned the blame on Kasak and his fiend for killing said Halfling. Kasak explained, or rather lied to the guard, saying he had used a polymorph scroll on himself to deal with the attacking Halfling as he had no melee weapon with which to defend himself.

After a bit of consideration, the guard seemed to accept this story and left the room, saying he’d keep an eye on Kasak. What came next was somewhat shocking to Sarah. With the guard gone, the talk that ensued made it clear that Kasak was, indeed, lying to the man. Soon after that, the guise of “Fido” was lifted and a greater pit fiend stand in the room with Kasak, Tanda and Gorethan.

“Kasak, Kasak, Kasak…” Sarah thought to herself with a silent sigh. She had made up her mind right then to deal with the devil once they had left. She knew, however, that Kasak would get all upset and mad at her for killing his “pet”. At times she became frustrated enough to question her loving friendship with this man... er, woman… er… elf. But, in the end, the good times far outweighed the bad. Anyway, knowing how he would react, she devised a plan to keep herself blame-free.

First she would seek out Seralin to gain magical enchantments that would ensure her victory over the fiend. Then she would explain that she was headed into the mountains to rescue a dying soul.

And so it was put into motion. Seralin worked her magical wonders and, coupled with the awesome might of Ra’Ma, the pit fiend fell at the hands of the tiny, pink, winged creature that stood about a quarter of the devil’s height. Her entry cloaked by invisibility and her exit masked by expertise stealth skills, none would know it was she who had slain the beast.

To further conceal herself, she flew up to the savage peaks of the Red Irons. After being assaulted by numerous cannibals, she drug the mangled corpse of one foolish assailant all the way back to town, dumping it the graveyard, thus holding her true to the story she had told those in town.

Everything was great. A horrible, evil, vile devil had been slain, Kasak would be none the wiser to who did it, and all would be well. The brief feeling of tragedy she had experienced earlier in the day must have due to something she ate…

…or was it?

Before she had left to kill the devil, she had been with Tananda in the temple of Ra’Ma. Tanda was having severe back pain and no matter how much positive energy Sarah infused her with, it would not subside. She left Tanda there after Kasak had shown up. Her task now complete, she decided to return to see if Tanda was feeling any better.

And that’s when the feeling came again… as she approached the altar and A’nadra, two other figures were there. A disfigured Tanda and Kasak, laying prone on the ground. Tanda’s disfigurement was portrayed in the two… wings? …that extended from her back. Red and leathery, they seemed like those a dragon might have, though much, much smaller.

“What’s going on?” Sarah asked, staring confused at Tanda.

“He’s dead…” She replied

“Not him, you. You have something on your ba—“ the realization of what Tanda had just said took a moment to hit, “Dead??”

Sarah rushed to Kasak’s side as Tanda stood near him, tears flowing freely from her eyes.

“What happened??” Sarah asked frantically, looking upon the lifeless shell of Kasak.

“……someone killed the pit fiend…” came Tanda’s slow reply, “They were bound… he died too….”

Sarah went pale. The whole battle replayed in her mind. She watched in slow motion as her own hands drove the shining blades into the devil, sending it back to the hell dimension it came from. At the same time, she could picture Kasak, in the temple, beside Tanda. Smiling one moment… then falling limp to the floor the next.

The moment seemed an eternity, but it was over in the blink of an eye. She looked around, confused… lost for a moment. Tanda’s voice was heard again, “We can’t raise him…” Sarah didn’t believe it and tried herself… to no avail. The purple elf clad in multi-colored clothing lay an empty shell on the stone floor of the temple.

So many thoughts swirled through Sarah’s mind. Mostly questions. A repeated “why?”. Not so much questioning herself and what she had done, but questioning why doing the right thing always had to be so horribly painful. Good is supposed to win the day Achieve the victory. Be the hero. Live in peace until the next evil rose to power. Why was it never like that? Why was there always some price to pay? Why is nothing ever simple?

What ensued was… like a dream. Her thoughts everywhere, yet nowhere tangible, everything suddenly seemed so distant. There were voices behind and around her, crowding around the scene. She told them to go away as she kneeled beside Kasak’s body. She did not weep at that point, though Tanda was doing enough for the both of them…

Tanda… what came next was as certain as the rising sun. “You killed him!” the words echoed in Sarah’s mind. She wasn’t sure if she should defend herself or not… it was because of her actions that he lay dead… but it was certainly not her intent. How was she to know? Instead of lashing back, she tried to calm Tanda by instilling hope that they could still save him.

The pain was too near, the realization too terrible. Her words meant nothing to Tanda at this point. In her extreme confusion and disbelief in the entire situation, the pain of losing Kasak had not yet struck Sarah’s heart. It was only when Tanda commanded her to leave her sight that the numbness faded, opening her to a sea of pain that swallowed her whole.

She fled the temple, at Tanda’s request… she had expected her to kill her and was nearly welcoming it at this point. To her house, to her room, collapsing on her bed, the confusion faded and only the truth remained.

Kasak Li’der was dead. Bound to the devil Sarah had destroyed, he was drug to hell with it where he was beyond anyone’s reach. Amidst tears of sorrow and pain, she lashed out in fits of anger, tearing at the fabric of her bedding. Angry at herself, angry at Kasak, broken hearted at Tanda’s loss of love for her, which she often doubted was never there.

There she stayed for hours… or days… time was as elusive as ever. She seemed frozen in this moment, her heart torn in a hundred pieces. She had held true to her faith, performed her duty, she had done the “right thing”… and as a result, she had shattered the hearts and lives of many.

In this moment, she questioned her own future. The fates had already prohibited her from ever loving romantically. Being a creature of love, that needed to give it and receive it to survive, she had turned to her friends. One was now dead: inadvertently killed by an act of her hand, and the other would surely hate her for the rest of her days.

That question was ongoing, but something in this moment convinced her to keep her faith. To keep her love. To try and rebuild the pieces that had been broken apart. And so, leaving the confines of her room, she went to find Tananda. To apologize, for whatever it was worth.

~|~

The welcome was surprising. Tanda was cold at first. Rigid, silent. Sarah had stopped her and stood there now, her mouth open to speak, but not a word came to mind. The only thing she could think to do was embrace Tanda. Her face buried in Tanda’s robes, she cried openly, vehemently. And when Tanda finally softened and returned the embrace, she cried harder.

The two stood there for several moments mourning the loss of their beloved friend, husband and unlikely father. In that moment, Sarah felt the love she had often doubted Tanda had for her and she vowed to never doubt it again.

“He would want us to move on… to keep living, and especially to be happy…” Tanda spoke softly, “He was always about happiness…”

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