NEVER SPLIT THE PARTY: The Adventures of the Creeping Bam (BOOK 4: The Hunt)

CHAPTER NINETEEN: SHAYLINE

Gods, I'm worried about Art. He's not even remotely his old self right now, I almost don't recognise the charming, easy-going young rogue I so quickly became fond of during our weeks on the road coming south from the Reaches. Who, for the most part at least, had remained upbeat enough to keep things from getting too grim once it all started to go wrong for us here in Untermer. Even after Gael was taken, I could still rely on him to be the bright centre of our group, even if there was a note of strain in him now that I could commiserate with, because that sweet young wizard's my friend too, damn it.

That's not the keen-edged, steel hard living blade that I found in the recovery room with Darwyn when I went to collect him. Somewhere between our return from the Late Bone and his going off to tell her what he just had to do, he went from being distractedly numb to ... honestly, what I'm watching now is bloody scary. I remember last week, when Kesla was interrogating that poor dumb kid in this very same backroom behind the temple's library, and the way she talked about torture scared the hell out of me, it was a side I couldn't really imagine her being capable of. Even though I kind of believed it when she spoke about it, all the same. She's so hard ... but Art? I definitely never expected him to have such a dark side.

Even Darwyn seems a little taken aback by it now, watching her former lover, the father of her child, intimidate a tough, veteran pirate who's physically much larger than him so effectively just with words and the mere sight of a small naked blade. Maybe she's regretting tagging along with us now, even though she insisted even after he was so adamant that he'd prefer she sat this out, just finished recovering. I know she wanted to come so she could watch over him, it was clear enough she was as worried about him as I quickly became. The way she keeps shooting looks my way tells me we're in the same boat right now.

The woman we brought back from the tavern along with the other two captives is sat in the very same chair the boy was last time we were here, I suspect it hasn't moved since, left where it was in case it was needed again, I suspect. When we first arrived she was mostly just slouched in it, like she didn't really give a shit, she was just annoyed with us all, and with the world for just being here. She was glaring daggers at the group as a whole, but Thel and Sonagh in particular, I noticed. It took us a few moments at the start to find out why.

Turns out the investigator knows her already, at least in passing. They've crossed paths a few times, and none of the encounters ever ended well. They never came to actual blows, at least, but the old orc definitely doesn't like her, and the feeling is clearly mutual. He made it very clear we're lucky we were able to take her quick like we did, without a real fight, because he says the fierce reputation she has is well deserved. Apparently she's one of Jammund's best fighters, definitely his most ruthless. She's dropped a lot of bodies in the harbour with their throats cut over the years, he told us.

Salenda Murkan's the name she was given, but everybody knows her as Nightwater Sal, or just Sal if they're actual friends. Not sure I really want to know any of them. We've only been in the room with her for a span of minutes, and I already despise this woman.

In no small part because she was being particularly uncivil with Thel, and with some particularly nasty language, too. I get the impression she's not a very tolerant person, she clearly hates some of the other races with a passion, and it seems dwarves are definitely not to her taste. Or maybe she just wanted a particular target to focus her ire on, and chose an easier target than the orc. Honestly, the thought amused me a little, because I've known Thel long enough now to know she definitely isn't an easy target.