Skara Braens

Part 26

Part 25 Vote Tally

Option A: 0
Option B: 4
Option C: 0

It's unanimous! Onward!

For a moment, all you do is eat.  The stew is plain, mutton and potatoes, not that you'd be able to tell.  Your sinuses are blocked, and everything that touches your tongue is tasteless.  Artair remains with you, waiting expectantly as if expecting what next escapes your mouth.

"What happened at Shapinsay."

Artair sighs.  "What hasn't?" he muses to himself.  He looks sidelong at you, as if deciding what, precisely, he should be telling you.  The back of one thumb makes a mindless patrol of the left side of his chin, back and forth like windscreen wipers, as his mind works on retrieving the correct information.

"Shapinsay was the first island to lose the fight with..." He left the end of the sentence hanging, his thumb leaving his chin as he indicated the air around him vaguely.  Folding his thick arms across his chest and pulling in as if caught by a chill, Artair turned his attention to the floor.

"I don't know that it was the place it first struck, but it was the first place to be utterly conquered.  Strange, really.  There's not much on Shapinsay; an old castle maybe, a small fishing village.  It's almost entirely farmland.  Still, there's not a soul living there now.  The entire island was subsumed in a matter of hours, never mind days.  The last thing we hear was a fisherman's distress call.  It ended in his screams.  That was the last sound uttered by anyone living on Shapinsay. Poor soul."

You've stopped eating as you listen to Artair's story.  "What if my drugged dreams revealed more than a name?" you whisper.  "What if they gave us the clue we needed to solve this puzzle."

"Siona doesn't seem to think so."

"Siona is the one who sent me on this dream quest.  If she believes names can be pulled from dreams, why not other things?  Why not other answers?"

Artair looks at you a moment before shaking his head.  "She hasn't led us astray yet."

"And likely she won't.  I daresay you'll live to a good old age, whatever age that is in these times.  I have no doubt that she will continue to rescue those who need rescuing until she can no longer walk.  But, Artair, hiding behind these walls, risking nothing, condemns all that is left of humanity to a long, slow extinction."

"So we should hurry it up?  Is that what you're saying?"

"We should take a risk.  Either we fight back, or we hide."

"Both will have the same result."

"But if we fight, there is at least a chance of a victory."

Artair lifts his gaze to meet yours.

"When you die, and go meet your ancestors, will you have stories or excuses?  Will you be able to face them squarely, or would you be filled with shame.  The time for hiding is over.  It's time to fight, Artair.  This plague has been defeated before.  We can defeat it again.  We must."

A small smile crosses Artair's lips.  "Who would have pegged you as such an orator, Iolaire?  A very moving speech."

You narrow your eyes at his tone.  "Are you mocking me, Artair?"

"No," the burly man says.  "No, I am not.  I am genuinely impressed.  And I am also convinced that you truly believe this has happened before, and that it can be stopped.  But I'm not certain that you're the one to stop it."

"Not me," you say.  "Not me alone, anyway.  Us, Artair.  You, and Gordon, Mordina and I.  Siona too, if she can be convinced.  I won't be able to do this together.  But with help, with you, I know we have a good shot at it."

"It's suicide."

"Perhaps.  Perhaps not.  The alternative certainly is.  We have to try."

"When I was a boy, my mother would tell me stories of King Arthur, whose name I took.  She told me she named me for him because he was a great man who did everything he could to save his people from the horrors of invasion.  When I could read, I read everything about King Arthur I could.  I could not get enough.  I fancied myself a hero, like him.  Now it comes to it, I don't know that I have it in me to be a hero."

"Arthur didn't know, either, I'll bet," you say.  "And probably didn't think of himself as much of one.  But he is remembered as such because he saw something that needed doing and did it.  He didn't wait for someone else to do the work.  He stood up and did his part.  That's all heroism is, Artair.  It's stepping up when no one else will."

"You make it sound so simple, Iolaire."

"Because it is, Artair.  It is simple, even if it's terrifying."

Artair falls silent, his eyes dropping down to the floor again as he retreats into thought.  You take that time to finish your food.  It is just as tasteless as before, more so now that it's a cold, gluey mess.  It takes some effort to swallow your last bite.  Placing the bowl on the small bedside table, you lean back on your pillow, aiming to rest your eyes while Artair thinks.

You are snoring before a minute is out.

When you wake, you find Artair sitting by your hearth, quietly poking at a flaming log with an iron stick.  Mordina sits opposite him, stitching something in her lap.  You take in a deep breath, then explode into a coughing fit that startles Artair and Mordina.  They both twitch and turn to you, wearing almost identical expressions of surprise.

You continue to cough.

Mordina is up and by your side in a flash, pouring you a cold cup of water.  You take it gratefully, swallowing the cold water and feeling it work to soothe your lungs before hitting your very empty stomach.  That stomach growls.

"I'll get food," Artair says in his gruff manner.  He is gone before you can croak your thanks.

"You've been out a while," Mordina notes.  She touches your forehead with a frown.  "Well, the fever is less.  That's good.  How do you feel?"

"Exhausted."

"I bet." Mordina pauses.  "Artair told me about what you said."  Looking intently at you, she asks, "Are you sure?  Are you sure we can beat this... whatever this is."

You nod.  "It's been done before.  It can be done again."

Mordina nods.  "Then I'm with you.  Artair too.  I'm not certain Gordon and Siona will be.  I'm assuming you have a plan?"

What do you say?

a) "First, we convince Siona and Gordon.  We're stronger together."
b) "We go to Shapinsay. As soon as possible."
c) "I haven't really thought of one. Ideas?"

Voting ends 26 January, 2017.  Good luck, Adventurers!