In the Dark of the Night

In the Light of the Day 7

Eis'Libe set his jaw, and approached the corpse. He lifted its head and turned it to face them.

"What are ye doin'?" Del hissed.

"Examining the body," Eis replied calmly. "We need to be sure if this is our man."

"Right. This could any green-haired elf, I'm sure."

"Indeed."

He scanned the facial features, shriveled and tight as they were. Parts of the dark brown facial skin was peeling off in short strips. Then he pulled back some of the hair to expose long, pointed ears.

"Eldakar ears," Eis said. "Faelakar is also a definite possibility; their bodies are roughly the same shape as eldakar, though they vary greatly in nature."

"What was it Harry said? Hair like moss, skin like wood? He has that goin' on, fer sure."

"Yes." Eis ran his fingers through some of the hair, which was still well-attached to the scalp. It was softer and thicker than normal hair, and branched into filaments that were distinctly moss-like. "He also mentioned pure white eyes." He forced open one of the eyes, but the desiccated remnants were inconclusive.

Del winced. "How're ye okay with doin' that?"

"I studied on necromancy, you'll recall. A fair bit of work with corpses is required. Speaking of which..." He closed his eyes, then reopened them with his magical senses open. "No trace of magic...not anymore, at any rate."

"D'ye need me to do a Cache Dive on it?" Del asked.

"That would be ideal, but I don't believe we have the time to set it up."

"No," Del said, relieved. "I'd have ta get in there to do my chalk, too. But there is one thing we can do."

"Which is?"

Del handed him a pocket knife. "Take a lock of his hair. For Harry."

With the deed done, they returned to the staircase, tapping Sparrow in the shoulder as they went. She was relieved; she didn't know how much longer she could hold the spell on the guard, or the conversation. She left him with a cryptic, "It's time for you to wake up," from his dream person, then broke off the spell and followed the others upstairs. Del's stealth spell was still holding, so they were able to easily get through the door without a sound. The first guard was still in the entryway, but facing out. From the sound of it, Harry was now leading the crowd in a lively tavern song, and the guard was tapping his foot along to it. Still, it didn't seem like they could squeeze by without him noticing, stealth-enhancing spell or not.

Sparrow prepared herself to use her last bit of Essence in another illusion spell, but was interrupted by a loud trumpeting in the yard that brought the communal singing to a halt. The soldier in front of them turned to the right and gave a stiff salute. The Rangers took advantage and slipped past him undetected, then gathered together behind the same potted plants that they'd used for cover on the way in. Everyone in sight was looking towards the western exit, but it was blocked by the large pine, so they shifted further west to get a better view.

Soon some castle guards emerged, followed by a woman in an elegant, full green gown with embroidery and lace sleeves. Over this she wore a darker green cape trimmed with white ermine fur, and on her head was a simple tiara with a large emerald at the center. Following her was her lady-in-waiting, a middle-aged woman with a dowdy face and a much less impressive gown carrying a writing box under her arm, and after her, more guards.

Everyone assembled gave the Duchess a respectful bow or curtsey, the commoners more clumsily than the nobles. The Rangers followed suit, not wanting to attract attention.