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Dalia went out of the church only to see that it was already well past midday. The ride back to Eowyn's will take the better part of the rest of the day, but perhaps the best time to catch
her would be right before closing with no possibility of interruption from customers, remarked Tobi as she took her place on Teak's pommel platform. Yes, said Dalia, I think it would be
best to head over there now before I change my mind entirely and skip town. Tobi purred her satisfaction as Dalia greeted Teak and untied his reins from the fence.
Mounting in one swift move, Dalia turned Teak back to the direction of Merchant's Row and urged him into a fast walk. Dalia tried to guide Teak along the path of least resistance, but all to often found herself swept up into the throng of crowds trying to get back to work from the afternoon respite. "By all the Lady holds holy, can't this crowd move any faster?" Dalia seethed aloud.
Calm down, love, Tobi tried to ease her thinning patience as well. As soon as the crowd clears, we'll have a direct shot from this main street to the docks, and then it's only
a quick trot.
I know, my dearest ghatta, but I still can't help wishing the people would be more organized. Even cattle can manage better than this. Dalia seethed inwardly like this for the rest of the
journey to the Kuriousity Shoppe since the crowds never cleared. It was a good way to avoid thinking about the decision she had reached prior to even returning to the shoppe.
Dalia, darling, we're here. Tobi's voice in her brain cut through her mental bickering with the folks who couldn't here her or even have a clue as to her anxiety.
What's that? We're here already? She felt her stomach fall through her body to the soles of her feet. Dalia slowly dismounted and tied Teak to the post outside the shoppe with shaky hands. Alright, Tobi, here we go.
Dalia's entrance to the shoppe was marked by the soft tinkling of bells and the not so soft squawking of Eowyn's bird companion. Eowyn, however, was nowhere in sight. "Eowyn," Dalia called out, "it's Dalia Sorentine and Tobi. We've come back to tell you our decision." I guess all we can do now is hope she's here, Dalia said to Tobi.
Yes, Tobi replied pensively, and wait.
(written with Dalia Sorentine)
Dalia's entrance to the shoppe was marked by the soft tinkling of bells and the not so soft squawking of Eowyn's bird companion. Eowyn, however, was nowhere in sight. "Eowyn,"
Dalia called out, "it's Dalia Sorentine and Tobi. We've come back to tell you our decision." I guess all we can do now is hope she's here, Dalia said to Tobi.
Yes, Tobi replied pensively, and wait.
Time ticked by in long, silent seconds, seeming like an eternity to the young seeker whose patience had grown quite thin since her arrival in Stormpoint and her encounters with its strange inhabitants. Still, she waited, with a small semblance of patience, before calling out the shopkeeper's name once again. "Eowyn?" When her call was answered only by the
same silence as before, the seeker warily descended the few steps leading to the main floor of the shoppe and began to look about for its keeper.
Like her call, her search revealed nothing, and she turned to her companion who padded quietly beside her with bright eyes and alert whiskers. Do you think she's upstairs? Dalia asked of the ghatta. Maybe she just didn't hear us.
Tobi's tail flicked once in a gesture Dalia had come to know well, before she answered, As expected, her scent is very strong in the shoppe. But the most recent aura leads toward the back room. Without further explanation, the ghatta slipped behind the heavy curtain that screened the back room from unwanted eyes and gave another tail flick, indicating that Dalia should follow.
It took a moment for their eyes to adjust to the feeble amount of light that sulked about the sparse back room, but when they did, the pair found Eowyn sitting at the same table where
they had seen her last. She looked as if she hadn't moved since their last meeting, but had been patiently awaiting and expecting their return. The same chair and stool sat opposite the shoppekeeper, and, as before, a small wooden box rested atop the table beside Eowyn's right hand.
It was the box, more than anything, that caused the seeker to shudder as she remembered the scenes that had played out before her in the shoppekeeper's strange tome. Upon closer
inspection, however, Dalia realized that the box which currently sat before the woman was not the same one as before, and she didn't know whether this should bring relief or dread.
Eowyn didn't give her time to decide, a faint and distant smile rising emptily on her face as she looked from the ghatta to her companion. "Welcome back," she said finally, in a tone
suggesting that she knew they would come back. Some would attribute it to prognostication, but in truth it took no greater powers than experience and observation to know that the pair
would return. The girl had said that she felt drawn to Stormpoint, as if some greater power had willed her to the city. It might be true, but it didn't matter. The fact that the girl believed it to be so was enough, for her curiosity would drive her to seek that greater power, to discover its purpose. It was this curiosity, at least in part, that would bring the seeker back--that had brought the seeker back. Things had happened in the interim, to be sure, but they served only to feed the curiosity, fanning its flames until it could no longer be ignored. Thus, the girl and her bond had returned to the shoppe, to the secluded back room, to the small wooden table, and to the singular elven shoppekeeper who might know the answer, and who might be persuaded to share it. But if Eowyn was so inclined to share, no trace of it appeared on her delicate features as she gestured for the pair to sit opposite her at the table.
Tobi was the first to answer the shoppekeeper's invitation, hopping gracefully atop the stool and inquiring with a simple, "Mraow?"
Dalia hurried joined Tobi at the table, "Thank you, Eowyn," she said, taking the same seat opposite Eowyn she had occupied during her last visit, "We have our answer."
Eowyn nodded without speaking and gazed hard upon the two as if looking into their futures and taking their measure. The token smile she had worn before faded as she did so, and was
soon replaced by a grim, tightlipped expression. "You've seen him again, spoken to him, haven't you?" Her tone left no doubt as to who she meant by the word 'him.'
Dalia nodded slowly, her expression changing to match the shoppekeeper's. "Not him exactly. Just that demonic purple lizard of his." Tobi wrinkled her nose in disgust as she recalled the encounter. The dragonet had counseled them against returning to the shoppe, had told them that its keeper had darker plans, and had warned them that the woman wouldn't think twice about sacrificing the pair if it suited her purposes. Tobi didn't entirely believe the creature, but she would have felt better about their current visit if she could read their host as she could most people.
Eowyn pursed her lips for a moment in thought, before speaking again, "He can be very convincing, the daemon--and his constructs. Like all of his kind he can whisper those things
that we most fear, and those that we most desire, and eventually confuse our ability to distinguish between the two. Do you understand?"
Dalia and Tobi both nodded silently, but only Dalia answered. "We know how terrible and twisting lie upon lie can be."
The shoppekeeper's eyes narrowed and may have turned just as a shade darker as she considered both the statement and its speaker. The silence that follows was long and
scrutinizing, matching the stare in nearly all regards.
Beneath the gaze, Dalia glanced sideways at Tobi for some direction. Go ahead, love, the ghatta prompted, I think she's waiting for you.
With Tobi's reassurance, Dalia looked back at Eowyn and took a deep breath. "Eowyn, we have considered your offer deeply, along with all of its consequences . . ." she paused and
studied her hands for a brief moment, "we have decided that we would like to help you however we can." Dalia sighed heavily at finally saying her peace.
When the sigh faded, the quiet of earlier resumed and the shoppekeeper's dark eyes turned impossibly darker. When at last it seemed that they had turned to a deep obsidian, she finally
spoke--a single word, with a host of possible meanings. "No."
Dalia's expression changed quickly from relief to curiosity to shock. "No? What do you mean?" Tobi, what does she mean? she asked of the ghatta, anger and desperation flooding
her thoughts.
I don't have a clue, the ghatta answered, I told you before, she's unreadable to me.
Eowyn waited for the two to finish their mental discourse, before answering the seeker with an
inscrutable expression and tone.
“I mean 'no.' You cannot help.”
Dalia racked her brain, going over the conversation again in an effort to pinpoint what she may have said or done wrong to have Eowyn cast her off like this. "Eowyn . . ." Dalia breathed deeply to steady her voice, "I may be young and inexperienced in the ways
of truthseeking, but I can tell you this now . . . Tobi and I are not on the side of evil, and we want to help you not only to prove ourselves, but to prove it to ourselves that we are worthy of our bond and your trust." Dalia heaved a huge mental sigh and looked to Tobi. That was the toughest thing I've ever had to say.
The ghatta replied comfortingly, Of course. The truth never comes easy. But I'm very proud of you.
The statement had no effect on their host, however, and she shook her head before responding in a tone that carried no sympathy, "I'm sorry. This isn't a test with which to prove
yourselves, and my trust is something you needn't concern yourself with."
Dalia buried her head in her hands and tried to steel herself against the tears she could feel welling inside her. Tobi, what can I do or say that will make a dent in this woman?
Tobi butted her head against Dalia's hands and purred into her ear. Self-doubt is the surest road to failure. We must be strong, but you must be strong on your own. Do you truly believe we can make a difference in a fight against a demon with unimaginable power?
Dalia shook her head silently, considering Tobi's words, I think . . . Tobi cut her off mid-sentence, Don't think. Know.
Eowyn's gaze grew sharper as the pair conversed mentally, and her expression became keener, more interested, as if she could hear the two, or as if their expressions conveyed all the
information she needed to know the thoughts which flowed between them. Still, she sat quietly, almost patiently, and waited for the pair to finish.
I know we can make a difference, Dalia nodded, if she would only give us a chance.
Tobi smiled mentally, Don't tell me, tell her.
The corners of Dalia's mouth turned upward in a small and shaky smile. "Eowyn, after discussing the situation with my ever-wise companion I want to tell you that I know we can make a difference, if you only give us a chance to show you."
Eowyn smiled in response, and for a moment Dalia thought it was over, and that she and her offer had been accepted. The moment, however, was short-lived and fleeting, and the shoppekeeper's smiled turned cryptic, almost sinister, as she reached for the box. "Then show me."
Dalia felt literally frozen in place as the shoppekeeper's pale fingers unlatched the box and began to lift the lid. She wanted to stop her, but neither words nor movement were available.
And so, all she could do was sit helplessly and watch as the box opened and the room went completely black.
(written with Eowyn)
Dalia opened her eyes to an empty room. Even Tobi had disappeared from her side. Looking around, she didn't see even a hint that anyone but her had been there the entire time. The fear was rising in her like the mercury rises in a thermometer on a hot day. She called out tentatively. "Hello? Tobi? Eowyn?"
A disembodied voice, familiar and taunting in its tone called out to her from the emptiness. "You can't get out, you know, she's trapped you here."
Dalia looked around the room for the source of the eerily familiar voice, fighting down the panic she could fell building in her fast an furious as she looked around the room for the
source of the voice. "Who's there?"
Slowing fading into view is Giacomo, seated at the table. The tone of his voice became one of mock affront. "What? Forgotten so soon? And I thought we were becoming friends." The
word friends carried an ominous emphasis.
Dalia's eyes widen with a sudden rush of fear and dread to the surface of her thoughts. "Giacomo," she nearly whispered, shuddering at the mere sound as well as the tone of his
voice, " I haven't forgotten you." She paused for a moment, absorbing what he said. "What do you mean "she trapped me here"? Why would Eowyn trap me in here?"
Giacomo shook his head and assumed a patronizing tone and expression. "Poor child, don't you see?" His tone became even more condescending. "No, I suppose you don't. She's
afraid you'll see through her."
"You mean, that I'll see she's a demon, like you?" Dalia looked around nervously, wondering where in the world Tobi had gone. Her fear and panic were starting to make her feel
light-headed and her palms were feeling clammy. Where in the world did that ghatta get to?, she thought to herself.
Giacomo's lips spread into an impossibly broad smile. "Precisely." The word was spoken slowly, an accent given to each syllable. "You don't belong in this . . .," he paused, gesturing vaguely with one hand, casting for a word. He finally settled on one, "disagreement. You can sense that, can't you?"
"No, actually, I can't. What I do sense is that no one is really sure what is going on, including you." Dalia was trying desperately to cover her fear with something, anything to
keep Giacomo from realizing just how terrified she was to be facing him alone. She called out to Tobi, but received no answer. Realizing she was in this alone only added fuel to the fear burning like fire through every part of her body.
Giacomo chuckled quietly. "Oh, but you're wrong." The smile grew even broader as he spoke. "I know exactly what's going on. You're the only one who's trapped."
Dalia decided to prove him wrong, and she got up to try the door. Finding it locked, she turned and confronted the demon. "Where is she? What is going on?"
He stood and walked towards her. "Trust me, you don't want to find her. She'd have you believe you're needed to battle evil." He snorted derisively. "It's nothing so grand as that.
It's a personal grudge between two of a like kind, and she wants you to be her pawn. Or at least she did."
Dalia felt a sickening dread in the pit of her stomach as she took her seat again, more to steady her weak legs than to get friendly with the demon, but she masked her growing nausea with a
skeptical stare. "Then convince me, Giacomo. Convince me that I am of no use to either of you, and I'll kindly leave you to your . . . disagreement."
"Prove that you're worthless?" Giacomo hooted with laughter. "You've done a fine job of that already, haven't you? Do you know why she chose you instead of a fully trained seeker? Hmmm? I'll tell you. A fully trained seeker would see through her, would recognize her for what she is. And so she chose you, thinking that you might be of some help without being a danger to her. Now she knows you're not. Now you're nothing but an inconvenience."
She looked down at the table at her hands as Giacomo resumed his seat acroos the table from her, contemplating her choice of words very carefully. "That may be true, Giacomo, but I
don't think it is. I may not be fully trained, but I know that I'm not a danger to Eowyn when even she's not sure what's going on. I also know that you're not sure. If you were, you
wouldn't have involved yourself with me in the first place." Dalia hoped her mock bravado wouldn't prove to be her downfall.
Giacomo sat down opposite her and folded his hands on the table, leaning over them with an air of confidence. "The reason I involve myself with you, is that you interest me."
She looked back up at him at that comment. "Interest you? How do I do that?"
Giacomo sighed noncommittally. "Oh, much in the same way that a stone interests a sculptor. You have . . .," he spread his hands in an expansive gesture, "possibilities."
Dalia raised her eyebrows at that, her self-confidence growing in her subconscious as she continued to successfully face off with the demon. "Possibilities? What do you mean?"
(written with Dalia Sorentine)
Giacomo sighed noncommittally. "Oh, much in the same way that a stone interests a sculptor. You have . . .," he spread his hands in an expansive gesture, "possibilities."
Dalia raised her eyebrows at that, her self-confidence growing in her subconscious as she continued to successfully face off with the demon. "Possibilities? What do you mean?"
Her tone contained a tinge of curiosity and imagined, but false, self-confidence, or so it seemed to the demon, and he smiled before continuing in a near-conspiratorial tone, "Well, in
a game such this one, every pawn has a chance to become a queen."
The seeker's expression turned skeptical once more. "You mean you would help me to become a . . . queen, as you say? What's in it for you?"
Giacomo sat silent for a moment, looking at her as if she must be simple-minded or extraordinarily obtuse. After a moment, his expression softened, or more accurately, faded into a patronizing smile and condescending tone, "I win my game, of course. And for my kind . . . our kind," he added, gesturing towards the door of the room to indicate the shopkeeper who might or might not be standing without, "winning is everything."
She heard his words, and though they rang sincere something in the back of Dalia's mind kept, well, . . . itching was the only word she could use to describe the sensation. Wrong . . . this
is wrong. That's what the itch kept digging at. She knew she had to get away from him and out of the room, but she didn't know how to do either. "Winning is everything? Then what is
losing? Or my refusal to help you?"
"Losing?" he asked with a tone of clear surprise. "Losing is an impossibility. My pieces are well-positioned." He appeared very confident on the matter, as if he had thumbed ahead to the
end of the book and read, or perhaps written, the words of his victory. A distant and knowing smile that rose mockingly on his features only furthered the impression and sent a small shiver
through the seeker. "Your refusal to help?" he continued, his taunting expression fading into to apathy. "Your refusal is, to me, nothing; but to you, everything. The choice is very
simple. You can stay where you are and remain a pawn, or join me and advance."
Wrong, wrong, wrong . . . the itch grew into a pounding. "Lies." The single word came out in a mere whisper.
"And you think her words hold more truth than mine?" His manner was almost a pained reproachfulness as he rose quickly to his feet and leaned heavily across the table. "I've been
truthful with you, have I not? Revealed my nature. Has she?"
"Your nature, but not your true self. Even you hide from your true self. I can sense it now that you are always assuming the faces of others, never your own. How can a truthseeker help
someone who lies even to himself?" She paused, considering her words carefully. "At least Eowyn has been honest enough to reveal that she needs my help to fight against something, not
to further her own interests." She smiled softly. "That has to be the most honest pursuit there is."
"And how do you know she's not furthering her own interests," he asked, his expression now one of concern, though whether manufactured or genuine, the seeker could not say. "She's
not what she seems, you know. And as you should be aware, the best lies are those that rest between two truths."
"Yes, . . . half-truth, half-lie. The easiest kind to believe, but I'm through believing your lies, Giacomo. Not that I ever really believed you to begin with." She looked down at her
hands again. "I'll admit, you had me going for a little bit. Digging at my doubt, my self-esteem . . . it almost worked." She looked him in the eyes. "I see through you now though. You're transparent as a window."
He smiled, a chilling expression devoid of all mirth. "No, not a window . . . " the smile grew, or it might have, Dalia couldn't be certain as his face faded out of focus and her vision
turned inward, seeing herself and the uncertainty that she'd brought with her to Stormpoint. ".
. . a mirror."
Dalia saw herself as others must have seen her . . . meek, confused, alone. Her posture, her demeanor, her entire being radiated self-doubt. She viewed her first encounter with Giacomo, and felt her fear as fresh as it had been at that moment. Then she saw her first visit with Eowyn, and how frightened and yet fascinated she had been by the strange woman.
Everything that had happened to her in . . . had it only been days? . . . flashed before her. She saw and felt her growing confidence in herself and Tobi, her need to have something to
believe in and to fight for. She smiled softly.
So this is who I am now . . . after only a few short days. Her smile faded. She knew she had to fight Giacomo and his lies. Whether she knew Eowyn's past or not wasn't the issue. Trust
was the issue, and she knew now that Eowyn was the one to trust, not this monster sitting in front of her. It was suddenly clear to her that Eowyn was a woman she could trust with her life, and this master trickster would only add her to his already innumerable list of victims. The vision of herself cleared and she was again facing Giacomo. The demon's face paled as
he stared into hers, then blurred, and twisted, and faded away into nothingness along with rest of the room until all that was left was the same blackness that had surrounded her before. It
stayed for a time, but held no fear now. It was only darkness, nothing more, and soon it too faded, and the room again began to come into view.
It wasn't the Kuriousity Shoppe however, or the backroom that greeted her eyes as the light finally pushed back the darkness. It was her room at the inn, and she was sitting cross-legged
on the bed with a startled Tobi beside her. Before them both sat the same unadorned wooden box that whose opening had prompted the scene which now seemed to be at last an end. It
was closed now, but a small note lay beside it.
Dalia looked around in utter confusion. "But we . . . How did we . . . Tobi?" Tobi was just as confused.
I have no idea, my love, but it seems we have been accepted. She hopped into Dalia's lap. I'm so proud of you. Dalia nuzzled into Tobi's neck as a multitude of feelings swept over her
and tears began streaming down her face. She sat upright with a start.
"Teak! Tobi, is he alright?" Tobi continued to purr and knead Dalia's legs in a gesture of contentment.
He's fine, love. Teak is safe in the stable downstairs.
Dalia sighed with relief. Slowly the realization came over her that the box and note were there. She looked at Tobi questioningly, who looked back at her with an equally quizzical expression. Dalia shakily picked up the note and read it.
"You may have need of this. We shall speak later. Tell no one. E."
Looking warily at the box, she took in a breath and opened it. Inside was the crystal she had admired in the shoppe earlier. A smile spread slowly across her face as she absently wiped
away the tears that were still falling down her cheeks.
We did it, Tobi. Tobi smiled a feline smile.
No, love. You did it. I was only moral support in the peanut gallery. But I will be with you every step of the way from here on out, dearest. Dalia nodded and collapsed backwards on the
bed, not caring that she was still clothed or not even lengthwise on the bed.
"I know, love," she murmured before falling into an exhausted, dreamless sleep, "I know."