Monday, November 05, 2007

Vigil, Part III

Bourbon. Dakormaar had offered Mograg some earlier that evening. He had accepted it, and the taste had not left his mouth since. When the last of the gathering finally parted and Mograg was left on his own, the taste still tugged at his mind. Resolutely, he made his way to Stonebreaker after procuring all the alcohol he would need.

He emptied the small keg. The pink elekk seemed to smile to Mograg as the bull tried to pat its head, his hand passing through it. One of the orcs nearby shook his head sadly at the drunken bull. To the orc, Mograg was talking to and patting affectionately nothing more than the empty air.

Mograg had not come to this place since he had brought Thalleia here. They, among others, had been drinking in Booty Bay that evening in celebration of the wedding ceremony of Issaela and Eisali. He wished to know if the orc huntress would see the pink elekks as he had. He returned this time alone, seeking out the pink elekks one more time.

When Slyvos had first told Mograg of the pink elekks Mograg had assumed it was Slyvos' failing sanity speaking. He had long known that the mind of the older bull was not well. It had been apparent upon their first meeting, long ago.

Seeing the pink elekks for himself and now knowing that Thalleia saw them as well made Mograg reconsider everything Slyvos had said to him. Perhaps his sanity had not been failing after all. It explained some things, and those explanations made Mograg more uncomfortable than before.

He had found Slyvos' purple hat, one of the many hats Slyvos sought to protect from the plainstriders. He had found the hat and plainstrider feathers at the end of the trail, where Slyvos had disappeared. He saw with his own eyes the signs of the struggle that had ensued. He knew the plainstriders had left of their own volition, in apparent victory.

Mograg found all of this many weeks ago. Too many. Mograg had watched the places where he expected to see Slyvos. He had hunted for any sign of him. He had hired people to keep watch for him. At the close of the festival of the undead, Mograg knew that the time was upon him where he would need to consider that he would not see his friend again.

In recent times, Slyvos had been unable to recall the story that he had told Mograg when first they met. Mograg recounted it faithfully to Thalleia when they had come here. This time, Mograg spoke it only to the pink elekk.

"The plainshtridersh, you shee, wanted hish hat because it ish magic. It revealed to Shlyvos the path to the cave in Thunder Bluff filled with gold! Now, that shounds crazy to you, sure, but I can shee you," he said to the pink elekk with a grin. "Sheeing you shounded crazy to me when he told me about you. And I have a helmet which letsh me see ghoshtsh!" Mograg hiccupped. "Sho, why not a hat that letsh you shee a path to a cave filled with gold in Thunder Bluff?" He wobbled where he stood. "And what would the plainshtridersh want with gold, you ashk? Well, I've sheen more than one raptor hoarding coin for itshelf. They like shiny objectsh. And they're shmart! They have a whole shociety and everything! Why not plainshtridersh, too?" The pink elekk swatted through Mograg with its trunk. "Why not, I ashk you..."

Taking a swig from a large jug of bourbon, Mograg considered that his own sanity was failing.

The burn of the bourbon in his throat was all too well known to him. Slyvos had seen to it some time ago that Mograg became familiar with the more potent spirits. The alcohol emboldened Mograg. After another swig, he called for his windrider. Taking wing, Mograg nearly lying forward on the beast, they headed southwest. He would fly across to the floating islands where the largest of plainstriders could be found. He had not searched for him at this place yet, knowing that to do so would be to believe all that Slyvos had told him. Now, it was the only hope he had left for finding his friend.

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