Over The Rainbow

Introduction

"Any last words?" Lorenzo said, his sword embedded in Mollymauk's chest. Molly spit in his face, blood and saliva mixing. "Respect." Lorenzo chuckled darkly. Then with a grunt, he twisted the sword. Caleb watched in mute horror as the Tiefling's head fell to the side, that look of defiance frozen on his lifeless face. After that, everything started to blur together for Caleb. He vaguely remembered Keg rushing forward, saying something to Lorenzo and then being thrown in the dirt in front of him, Beau and Nott. And then The Iron Shepherds were gone, leaving nothing behind but a corpse and a few survivors. But Caleb didn't particularly care about the survivors. He let Beau go to Molly first, hanging back until Nott dragged him forward, and even then he stopped before he could really get to the body. He just listened to Beau and Nott grieve, Beau angrily searching for Molly's tapestry, that big, over dramatic thing that was just so Molly that he couldn't leave it alone.

Then Caleb was aware that they were going to bury Mollymauk. Caleb did not want to bury him. Not there, not on the side of the damn road in the middle of nowhere. He deserved better, and Caleb wanted to scream at Beau to stop taking off his coat, what was she doing that was Molly's. It was only when she started wrapping him in the tapestry that Caleb realized that he would have to be the one to dig the grave. In his haze he cast Maximillian's Earthen Grasp and started to dig, all the while staring down at his fallen friend. It could have been more. Caleb's brain moaned. He shook his head and focused all of his energy into the spell. Soon, it was time to put the colorful Tiefling back into the earth from whence he crawled. Caleb stepped forward, brushing the hair out of Molly's face before setting him gently in the hole. "Shouldn't.... Shouldn't we leave a note? Just in case he comes back?" Nott murmured. Beau nodded her agreement and started to write a brief letter to Mollymauk, telling him where to find the rest of The Mighty Nein if he did wake again.

After the hole was filled in, Beau drove a stake into the snow dusted ground and went to grab Molly's coat. "No." Caleb said horsley, holding a hand out in front of him. "He- He would not have wanted the coat to go to waste, ja?" Beau looked down at the coat in her hands, tears brimming in her eyes before tossing it to Caleb and storming off. Caleb just held it close, running his hand along the hand stitching of each patch, imagining Molly sitting and sewing on everyone of them with genuine care. He stood there for a while before slipping his arms through the sleeves and heading towards the others. They all looked to him as he approached, awaiting his words. He realised that he really was the man in charge now, and it was time to step up. For Molly. "Lets go kill those fuckers." He growled.