Sorrows and Sirens

The door to the Flagon opened. Three weary adventurers walked in.

"Hey you guys are back!" Duncan said, cheerfully. Shandra looked up, tears running down her red cheeks. The smile slipped from his face. He searched, looking for the teifling that was always cheerful and was close to everyone, but to no success. "Where… Where is she?" Everyone looked around then to the three who entered. Tears pricked behind Duncan's eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Duncan." Shandra said, hugging him, crying into his shoulder. Bishop sat down in his booth leaning back, looking gloomy. Casavir stood there, helpless to ease the pain that spread around the room. There was silence, except for Shandra's uncontrollable sobs.

"What… happened?" Quara asked. Raven and Quara weren't the closest but Raven understood Quara in a way. Raven understood everyone.

"We went there, go into a huge, underground castle, found this Aris dude, who then made the place collapse, she kept him at bay while we escaped." Bishop said, smoothly.

"How can you say that so smoothly?" Shandra asked, angered by his behavior. "Do you even have a conscious Bishop?"

"Nope…. Neeshka stole it…" He said, his wicked smirk on his face. "Besides, when someone dies for you, you don't throw it away by crying all your life…"

"Please," Shandra snorted. "Besides Raven, have someone sacrificed their own lives for you?"

"Yes." Bishop said, his eyes cold. "And I'm not crying, am I?"

"Wh-"

"None of your damn business!" Bishop snapped at Shandra.

Shandra jerked back at his sudden answer. "Then what should we do?"

"Carry on, what else?" Bishop looked around the room and stopped his eyes on Casavir. He was frozen, a look of sorrow on his face that made him look ten times older.

"Then what should we do?" Shandra repeated.

"We could all go our separate ways. Or we could carry on." Neeshka said, not liking the idea.

"Carry on?" Quara asked.

"Yah. We could choose someone else to lead us." Shandra said a hint of hope in her voice. She turned toward Casavir, breaking her grip of Duncan, and walked up to him. "Casavir… could lead us."

Bishop and Casavir jumped up. "What?" They both said at the same time then glared at each other.

"Shandra I'm not sure-"

"I think it's a horrible idea." Bishop cut in. "Why him?"

"Well he has Raven's heart while you have similar ideas, and I'd rather have Casavir than you." Shandra said. "Come on, Casavir, you got too."

"I don't think he should, I mean he'll make us pray every night before we go to bed." Bishop rolled his eyes.

Casavir squinted at Bishop, "I think I will try, at least."

Bishop then stood and walked toward the door and grabbed his black cloak.

"Where are you going?" Shandra asked, waking towards him.

"I'm going to find her." Bishop said, looking her hard in the eyes. "I am not going to follow the rules of a paladin."

"But you said yourself that she was dead."

"No one is dead til you see the corpse." Bishop pulled his cloak on and leaving into the night.

They stood silently, watching the door, for a while.

Kelgar broke the silence. "What should we do now?" He asked.

"Save a village, maybe…" Shandra shrugged, she had no clue how Raven even got her quests or whatever.

"Check in her room." Duncan said. "People send letters for aid most of the time. She has a small pile on her desk."

They opened the door to her room slowly. The painting of every one hung on the walls and littered the floor around her art stand. She painted every one, and was pretty good at it. No one was ever in her room except for a couple of times, but that was with her. Casavir walked up to her desk and picked up the first note to catch his eye. It looked new, and was at the top of the small pile. He opened it and read it.

"This one seems interesting." He said to Shandra.

"What's it about?" Shandra asked.

"The village of Arccriff has a siren problem…" Casavir said, staring at the note. "Nine men missing and strange noises and lights coming from a water cave nearby. They need help, and desperately."

"Sounds… interesting." Shandra said.

"Let's go there." Casavir said. "Sounds urgent." He walked towards the exit of the flagon to notice every one staring at him. "What?" He asked, looking around.

"Who are you going to take with you?" Shandra asked.

"Oh… right." Casavir said, kicking himself. "Shandra, … Kelgar, … Neeshka?" He said, looking at them. They grabbed their weapons and pre-packed bags, and walked out the door together, beginning a new adventure…