Dungeon 42

Choices

It took an hour for Jarod's mind to do anything useful after the encounter with the dungeon master. An hour in which he learned that Deux had spoken true, they couldn't reveal her secret to anyone. It hadn't stopped them from trying, floundering about in a panic as they found they simply couldn't speak the words.

They'd all tried, all but Quint who hadn't come back with them. Quint who'd made the mad decision to actually listen to the cursed thing.

Now they were all on the village green, their things packed for the road. It was time to face the facts.

"Quint's dead, we take our things and go," Jarod said finally. Truthfully he had no idea if the other man was or not and it didn't matter. He'd not come back and they had no reason to stay longer than they already had.

Cord and Argent nodded at that, but not Pip. He'd been strangely quiet for the most part despite joining in with them to try and warn the townsfolk.

"Quint said this whole place was strange," Pip said after a moment. A declaration that saved Jarod from Cord and Argent's expectant looks. They were waiting on a destination that Jarod did have.

"And now we all know it's very much worse than just strange," Jarod agreed. It wasn't often that Pip seemed to be in a thoughtful mood, but it always meant trouble.

"Right but… he was always talking about the buildings and things. I was just thinking it's the people who are stranger than that. They're so strong and… there are hardly any children here," Pip said.

"Does it matter?" Cord demanded.

"It does if they all belong to her," Pip said finally.

Jarod felt a cold shiver run down his spine. Deux had a man, Henry, and he was strong to say the least. The idea that he'd taken up with her as part of a deal made a kind of sense. More so than him not noticing the strangeness of her.

"So what, they'll fight us leaving?" Argent asked, shaking slightly.

"They haven't yet," Pip pointed out.

"So what?" Cord asked.

"We're bound by the deal and maybe she really is too," Pip said, chewing on his lip.

"Fucks sake, why does that matter?" Cord demanded, looking at the end of his patience.

"Because if she can't hurt us then I've got ten fucking gold I'm going to spend before we leave," Pip said, standing resolutely and heading for the shops.

"You've lost your fucking mind," Jarod said flatly.

"Fuck you. I've never seen better gear or prices, I'm getting a horse," Pip shot back with a nearly manic cheerfulness. He nearly walked into Quint who appeared out of the thin air.

"Oh fuck no!" Pip shouted, dagger out and slashing on instinct. The knife bounced off something none of them could see. A good thing for Quint it had been going for his throat, Pip wasn't one to try and disable an opponent.

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"Easy!" Quint said.

"He's immortal?" Cord asked, looking around to the group in bewilderment.

"No, I just know some proper magic now. It's a shield spell," Quint supplied flatly.

There was a long pause as Quint put a hand to his throat, rubbing at it. Probably an instinctive reaction since there wasn't so much as a welt on him. Like covering your junk when someone else got one in the sandbags.

"Did you make another deal?" Jarod demanded.

"Yeah," Quint replied.

Jarod let out a sigh. Maybe Pip had a point and Deux was bound by the contract and would let them go. They might even be safe once they got out of the valley. Only, like she said, she could act through contractors.

"You're out then," Jarod said flatly. He didn't want to take the chance that the man would turn on them.

They were all friends and it wasn't often that any of them turned on eachother. Even then the worst of it was usually some cussing and a fight. People had left the Daggers over things like that, but they'd done so alive. Jarod intended to keep the streak up.

"Fuck you too Jarod," Quint said, looking shocked then disgruntled. He turned on his heels and headed for the boarding house without another word. A bit of wetness in his eyes didn't escape notice though.

"Is he… just leaving?" Cord asked.

"Looks that way," Pip agreed. They all watched him go and Jarod felt a very powerful moment of conflict.

"He can do actual magic now," Jarod said. He knew exactly nothing about it, but Pip didn't pull a punch. He'd gone for the kill only for the knife to fall short of the mark. That had to be proper magic like Quint had said.

"Don't even think about that. You didn't even want to stay long enough to go shopping," Pip spat. Jarod gave a little start, not expecting his tone or expression to give anything away.

"Yeah, but..." Jarod trailed off, his mind racing. The fear that had gripped him earlier was still there, but now it was competing with a growing sense of curiosity

Pip grabbed Jarod's arm, his fingers digging in painfully.

"We need to leave. Now," Pip growled.

"I say we at least talk to Quint, see what he says," Jarod ventured.

"Sure, he's definitely in a talkative mood after my trying to kill him and you kicking him out," Pip spat.

"We'll apologize," Jarod said and it sounded lame to his own ears. He didn't honestly regret that, but it had been impulsive.

"Are you insane? We need to get as far away from here as possible!" Pip countered.

"And go where!?" Jarod shot back, surprising himself with the force of his words.

"Anywhere!" Pip retorted.

"No, that's just it, there isn't anywhere. Not that I've been able to think of where we won't end up right back where we started," Jarod said. The words were like pus flowing out of a boil, a putrid kind of relief.

"The fuck are you on about?" Cord asked, confused rather than angry.

"Name me one place where we'd live as well as we have here for more than a year or two with the coin we have," Jarod said flatly. "Because there isn't one. We'll end up working and most of it will go to gear and we'll maybe do a bit better but we'll be back to scraping with our lives on the line."

Argent, who had been silent until now, spoke up in a trembling voice. "What if he's not... him anymore? What if that thing changed him?"

"Dunno, but he looked like he was going to cry so I doubt it," Cord offered.

"What?" Argent and Pip asked together.

"What? He was half way to pissing himself when Pip nearly did him in then all sad after Jarod's bit. If they were going to change him you'd think they'd take some of the little bitch out of him first," Cord said with a shrug.

"You're an asshole," Argent said flatly.

"But am I wrong?" Cord countered. Nobody replied.

Jarod was caught between knowing Cord was saying it like an ass but not actually wrong. If someone was going to take over Quint's mind then things like that would likely have been pretty high on the removal list.

"Back to the matter at hand,"Jarod said, not interested in debating if Quint was really still himself. That felt like a conversation he was well and truly out of his depth for.

"Anyone think of a place to go?" Jarod inquired. The rest of the daggers groaned at that.

"Fuck you," Cord said.

"But am I wrong?" Jarod asked, brows up in a questioning challenge.

"Jarod, we're, at best, small-time mercs," Pip said.

"Right, so why are we suddenly fretting about dying? Least we might not do it broke this way," Jarod said, tone lighter than he felt. That got him a collective groan but no argument as he set out for the boarding house.