We snuck through the darkness for an indeterminable amount of time, probably near an hour or more. The entire way the landscape remained the same, just lazily rolling hills with the occasional tree or bush. The moon was barely a sliver in the sky so there was barely any light and my darkvision only extends sixty feet or so, so after that I had trouble making out more than basic shapes. Eventually we crested the top of a hill overlooking a half-ruined fortress. The fortress was lit up in places by what looked like torches or open fires. The large courtyard inside the walls but to the left side of the main building had the most light and I could make out humanoid shapes moving around even from this distance. Riversong turned around and whispered just loud enough to be heard.
“Alright, this is where we part ways. I'll go over the plan once more, just in case. I'll turn into a dragon and attack in an obvious way to draw out the high level people while you sneak into the fort and search for the Blackhorns. They're most likely in the old prison which would be in the basement of the keep, but there's no telling for sure. There's a good chance that you'll still run into guards and if you do you should try to take care of them swiftly before the others realize something's going on. Of course I'll do everything I can to keep as many of them occupied as possible, but don't take that for granted and make your escape quick. Remember, even if we can't find them we must pull out before long. It's better to fail and live to try again than for anyone to die needlessly.” The last part was kinda weak. While darkvision isn't as clear as normal vision, I could tell from the shift of his eyes that he was thinking about Izzy. He doesn't really show it, but he probably does care, at least a little.
“We got it, papa.” Izzy whispers quickly then turns to us and says, “Let's get ready. After he successfully draws their attention, we'll rush in.”
Riversong nods then turns towards where we came from and heads down the hill again before abruptly beginning his transformation. There was no sound and just a hint of magical light as his body suddenly exploded in size and took on distinctly draconic features. Once he was almost the size of the fortress' keep he suddenly roared and took to the air, circling once before heading directly for the fort. By now there was a loud commotion from the churchies as they searched for the source of the roar, and then I watched as they fell into a full on panic when a huge azure dragon landed in the courtyard and started tearing into people left and right, making a crap load of noise all the while. Izzy held us back for a minute while Riversong gathered attention to himself.
“Now!” Izzy said in a louder volume than before. We rushed for the fortress as a group, Argentian and Willow took the front while me and Izzy took the rear; a frontal attack formation. We headed for a broken down gap in the wall near the keep. We kept ourselves quiet while we headed for the door and safely made it inside without being spotted. Closing the half-rotted door we looked around the interior for a way down to the dungeon. There wasn't a way down in the first room so we headed deeper inside and entered a corridor along the outer wall with half-rotted doors along the inner side.
Just as we started walking, a group of four armored humans, decked out in full church regalia, turned the opposite corner and came into sight. They noticed us immediately and drew their scimitars. We also took combat positions as we prepared to engage. They beat us to it by just a second and two of them charge in, the other two moving at a slower pace. Argentian and Willow rush ahead to meet them midway and they begin fighting, neither side taking the advantage for now.
I swiftly prepare a Fireball and send it toward the two churchies in the back. One notices and manages to dodge most of it, but the other burns up nicely, his armor beginning to show a faint glow from the shear heat. The guy who I didn't manage to kill then squeezes in close enough to enter melee with our front liners, fully cutting off the corridor. As he does the melee continues and Argentian manages to land a clean blow on one of them, drawing a shallow gash on his sword arm. Willow takes a glancing blow as well, evening up the close range odds. Let's see if we can fix that.
My next Fireball is ready now so I cast it into the battle while using one of my class abilities to create safe-zones inside the blast for Argentian and Willow. It catches them off guard and two of them burn up immediately while the last one standing looks very hurt and scared. He turns to try and run, but Willow cuts him off with a flurry of punches and kicks, which he has trouble fending off. Izzy's the one to end it though as she catches him mid parry with a Vicious Mockery, rattling his mind and opening him up to a hit from Willow, though whether or not he was even alive at that point is debatable.
Once we confirm they're all dead we rush ahead, giving a cursory glance into each room we pass to look for stairs. We finally find them in the room at the other end of the hallway, where the church guys first came from. Running down we quickly find ourselves in a ruined dungeon. Only one of the cells is even remotely functional.
We rush over and when I get a look inside my breath catches. Inside the dark cell are two tieflings, a man and a woman. They look mostly like I remember them, but it's obvious they've seen better days. They show the marks of torture, and from the looks of their injuries it wasn't just once or twice, but over a prolonged period. Their clothes are nothing but torn, dirty rags now, shredded and cut by sharp implements. They're hands are also shackled together, with my father's shackle showing lines of slighting glowing runes, marking it as obviously magical in some way; I doubt the church could get something like that through legitimate channels so most likely a noble provided it.
Izzy sets to work picking the lock on the door. Fortunately it only takes her a moment to get it open, though it was with some grumbling about the rusty lock. At the sound of the door screeching open my mother's head shoots up, the wary expression on her face morphing to shock when she sees us. I still can't seem to figure out how to talk to them yet, and my father seems to be unconscious at the moment so I think it can wait. I bring Izzy attention to the magical shackle and getting my meaning she casts Dispel Magic, killing the magic in the thing. She then quickly picks the lock for both of them, completely freeing them, however I doubt they can walk on their own, given their state.
Willow takes Izzy's place next to my parents and checks their injuries. She quickly does her healing hand thing on them and declares them good enough to move. She then tries to wake my father, but he shows no sign of waking so she simply shoulders him in a fireman's carry. I move to my mother's side and lend her my arm, helping her stand mostly on her own, though I'm taking some of her weight. She's too light, anger flares in my chest as I realize the church wasn't even feeding them. I hand mother my waterskin as we make our way back to the stairs and she drinks greedily; dehydrated too then. I'm starting to worry for my father now, he still hasn't showed signs of waking even while being carried. I hope Riversong has Goodberry prepared, it would be extremely helpful in treating them. We head back upstairs only for Argentian to rush ahead as soon as he reaches the top, and shortly there after I hear the sounds of battle.
We get to the top and find Argentian and two more church soldiers locked in battle. I use one hand to quickly cast Fireball, again making safe-zones inside the blast for my allies. Neither enemy dies, but it's obvious that both are now heavily damaged. Izzy launches a cantrip while Argentian keeps them occupied and manages to kill one of them. Just as it looks like we'll easily win the other one touches his chest and his hand releases a golden glow, he visibly recovers in less than a second. I don't know how he did that... Unless he's a paladin and used Lay on Hands, that would explain it, but don't paladins have to swear an oath to something greater than themselves to gain their powers? Does the church somehow count?
Now's not the time to think about it! Taking the opportunity now that he's distracted from healing himself, I cast a fourth level Chromatic Orb at him. It's my most powerful single target spell option and I've only got one shot. And luckily it hits him in the head, burning it away instantly. Sighing with relief, we continue on; rushing as fast as we reasonably can through the keep and heading outside again. We keep to the shadows and finally make it back outside the fortress. We continue heading away until we've gained several hills of distance from the fort, meaning a considerable lead on any potential pursuers. We continue moving, but slow down to a more comfortable pace until we hear the sound of wings approaching. I glance up and see a blur pass by and then we hear the loud crash of something very heavy landing from the valley ahead of us.
As expected, it's Riversong still in his dragon form. He speaks in a deep, rumbling voice, “They shouldn't be following me and hopefully don't know about you yet, but we should make all available haste just in case. Climb onto my back, I'll fly us back to the well where we should be able to rest a bit.” Then he flattened himself to make it easier to climb onto his back. I have to say, the experience of flying on dragon-back is like none other. It's not like freedom perse but it's a similar feeling. Like the sky is almost within reach.
The flight was very short, only a couple of minutes, and when we land and get down we find ourselves back at the false well we originally climbed out of. Riversong changes back into his true form while I help mother lean on the well wall. Willow lays father on the ground and begins checking him for more injuries. He hasn't woken up yet and I can tell we're all worried about it, especially mother. She's staring at him closely, as though checking his chest for movement.
“I can't find any more serious injuries on him, by all rights he should have woken up by now.” Willow says seriously. Medicine is one of the fields I haven't studied so unfortunately I won't be any help here. I put my hand on mother's shoulder and gently squeeze to help keep her grounded and prevent her from panicking, but I think it might have been an unnecessary gesture. My parents are seasoned adventurers, they've most definitely been through and seen some real shit.
At this point Riversong comes over and starts handing out little berries. First to mother, then to Willow to give to father. I can only hope these are Goodberries and that they help. Mother pops it in her mouth and almost immediately regains some vigor. Willow gently feeds the little fruit to father and nothing happens. At least at first.
A few minutes after eating the berry, father groans and shifts slightly. Willow keeps a close eye on him as he finally wakes up, but soon backs up quickly when he shoots upright. He's not speaking coherently, and seems to still be coming around. “Zendrik! Thank the gods.” mother shouts, her volume lowering until it's almost a whisper towards the end. Father calms down after hearing her voice and looks our way, then his eyes widen dramatically.
“Two Mist's? What's going on?” He says in a confused daze. Right, it almost slipped my mind but I look almost like a younger clone of mother, just with different colored eyes and shorter hair. Darkvision isn't in color so he would just see us as uncannily similar. I decide it's time to make myself known to them now that father's awake.
“My name is Allure. Allure Blackhorn. Nice to finally meet you. It's a little weird to say but I'm your long lost daughter.” I manage to squeeze out. My voice didn't shake from nerves or anything so it's probably fine. Well, we'll have lots of time to talk once we're safely back in the city, so there's no need be impatient.
