[Quest Complete]

[Escape Martygan Completed!]

[You have been rewarded Vigor Points]

---

The golden vigama flew into Nay and she expanded her spirit veins to accept them. After such a battle, the dopamine hit made her feel euphoric.

They found Tuk-Tuk, still in polar bear form, bleeding into the snow. He was barely breathing, his breaths slow and laborious. His nostrils exhaled steam and his eyes were closed. At Nay's touch he let out a pitiful groan. His body was riddled with Martygan's cross-bow bolts.

Lain knelt next to him and she put a hand on his head. "It's not your time to join the sky spirits just yet, young warrior. Not if I can help it."

She placed one of her hoops above him and healing light shone from it, encasing him. A golden ball of light appeared in her hand and she blew it towards Tuk-Tuk. It turned into the image of an elk and approached him. It lowered its head so the antlers were about to touch the bear, then it separated into gold motes that washed over Tuk-Tuk.

The healing squeezed the bolts out of his flesh and the light filled the wounds with healing vigor. The injuries closed up, mending. When it was done, the hoop flew back to Lain and she leaned against a tree, showing signs of tiredness. All the healing had depleted her vigor reserves.

A wind blew through the black branches of the gnarled trees. They looked up and saw a cloud appear above the tree cover. It lowered, a mist entering the forest. But then Nay saw the silhouette of a person atop the cloud.

Ilyawraith landed in the forest, a staff made of multi-colored coral in her hand.

"You're late," Quincy said. He walked up to her and smiled.

"If someone had told me to come sooner instead of insisting that they could take care of things," Ilyawraith said, "I might have been able to prevent all this."

"I didn't want to risk ruining you being seen," Quincy said.

"I can handle my affairs while tending to my pupil just fine," Ilyawraith said.

She walked up to Nay and looked her up and down. "A few scratches and bruises but you are relatively unscathed."

"We have a healer with us," Nay said. She nodded at Lain.

"So, you've survived Bronze-rank attacks and," she looked around at the remains of the netherlings and blood imps, "the familiars borne from the Nether Realms."

"Quincy was the one who put an end to it," Nay said. "If he and Lain hadn't arrived it would be a different story."

Tuk-Tuk shifted back into human form, catching everyone's attention. He examined his healed body in amazement then looked at Lain. "You are a powerful healer."

"Next time a Gloom Ranger is pointing crossbows at you, think about finding cover,” Lain said. “When we choose to attack is sometimes more important than how."

"I can't help it. When I'm a bear, sometimes everything I see turns red and I can't think straight. I can only think of the one who caused the pain."

Tuk-Tuk pulled something out of his belt. It was a leather tube.

"What's that?" Nay said.

"Something the ranger dropped during the fight," Tuk-Tuk said. "I found it in the snow."

He held it out and Quincy took it. Quincy found a cap on the end it and opened it. It was a cylindrical case. He peeked inside and then pulled out a rolled-up parchment. Was it a scroll? He unrolled the parchment, revealing a map of Stitchdale and the surrounding environs, including The Black Ice Waste.

"A map," Nay said.

They all gathered around Quincy to study it. Nay could see markings. Some areas were circled and there were notes in the margins.

"It's the locations of monsters containing Marrow and Delicacies," Quincy said.

"That's why he took me," Nay said. "He was wanting me to cook them so he could power up."

Quincy mumbled as he read some of Martygan's scribblings, "Blue-spotted frost cat, ice harpy, tundra wolf, Njorbane..."

Ilyawraith noticed a marking in The Black Ice Wastes. "He planned to slay these creatures on his way North." She pointed at the area of the map. "Before joining with his co-conspirators."

"For what?" Nom said.

"To awaken the one who slumbers," Ilyawraith said.

/////////

They were able to get back to Lucerna's End quicker than Nay thought. They had only been a day's travel by fauglir into the wilderness from the town. Tuk-Tuk carried Nay and Nom on his back while Lain shifted to her mobile elk form. To speed up the trip, Ilyawraith ferried them one by one on via her cloud, starting with Quincy. After dropping him off at the Lodge, she flew back and grabbed another. After Quincy was Nay and Nom, then Tuk-Tuk and finally Lain.

Somehow, Lucerna's End had suffered only a handful of casualties from the attack, three of them coming from the Nether Spawn Mother attack out on the Lac. The fourth and last came from one of the watchmen who were fighting off the netherlings on the shore. It was an older stitchguy who died of a heart attack during the fight.

There were considerably more injured, Lain did her rounds tending to the wounded and all were healed.

The joy and celebration of the Green Moon Festival had been disrupted by Martygan's attack. He was the one responsible for summoning the creatures to cause chaos so he could snatch Nay. As such, she couldn't help but feel partially responsible for what had happened to the town. She compensated by having meals delivered to the houses of the families of the fallen and the injured. It was her way of caring for the townspeople and lifting her conscience. She made sure to include extra moon cakes in every care package.

/////////

It was night time and the Bouldershield Brothers had made sure there extra watchmen patrolling the streets in case of another event. But their presence was more to put the townspeople at ease.

In Quincy's Lodge, at a long table near the tavern hearth, the Marrow Eaters held a sort of council meeting over a feast of roasted pig. It was a private affair and the tavern had been closed to all other townsfolk.

Ilyawraith headed one end of the table. And Quincy sat on the other. Along the sides were Nay, Lain, Tuk-Tuk and Nom. Nom was hoarding a bowl of cracklings, loudly munching on the crispy pig skin.

For sides Nay had made a creamy deviled egg-style potato salad. It was a favorite of hers as a child in Louisiana, and she knew it would go well with the pig roast. Nom had fried up a ridiculous amount of onion rings. The batter wasn't too sweet and once fried it provided a ton of crunch. Nay had also made a slaw out of purple cabbage, the key ingredients being skyr, apple cider vinegar and some sugar. It was creamy and had the perfect blend of sugar and acidity.

Quincy liked it so much he had made a sandwich out of one of the rolls, a bit or roast pork and topped with the purple slaw. He also had an entire bowl of the macaroni and cheese she had thrown together. It used an absurd amount of cheese and butter and bacon. She warned Quincy not to get too savage with it or he'd be having stomach issues later.

She also had made a cornbread with some spicy tundra peppers. The secret ingredient to her cornbread was sour cream. She used a bit of buttermilk as well, but the sour cream really added a tangier flavor to the bread and it helped the baking soda achieve an even greater rise. The extra fat did wonders to help keep the cornbread moist and tender.

Tuk-Tuk had taken a whole iron pan of the stuff and was using it to wipe his plate clean. He had eaten a whole bowl of the baked snow beans and she had heard Nom make the comment, "Wouldn't want to be sleeping in the same room as him tonight."

Once everyone was a plate or two deep, satisfying their appetites, which were considerable after fighting a corrupted Gloom Ranger and an army of nether critters and one Flesh Wight, Ilyawraith began the proceedings.

"So, it appears we have something brewing in the far North that we cannot ignore," Ilyawraith said.

Everyone looked up from their plates to give her attention. Nay could see Nom perk his head from a bowl of potato salad he had been going to town on next to her.

The highest level Marrow Eater in the room looked at Tuk-Tuk. "The Twelve Tribes have been right. I've seen it for myself. Their legend that something nefarious has been sleeping, trapped in the black ice, is real. And there are forces and things in our realm that are working, as we speak, to free it from the ice. Already, Lucerna's End is experiencing the far-reaching tendrils of this darkness, just as Tuk-Tuk's people have. It can no longer be ignored."

Tuk-Tuk nodded and his eyes were full of renewed interest with Ilyawraith. It must have felt good to hear someone confirm a belief others had scoffed at or discarded as mere myth.

"What have you seen?" Nay asked.

"I've flown over The Black Ice Waste and have seen a force gathering near the chasms where the black ice is the thickest," Ilyawraith said. "What was one barren there are now signs of stirring."

"A force of what?" Lain asked.

"That, I'm not sure," she said. "I would have to consult with historical archives or meet with someone from The Twelve Tribes who possesses a better knowledge about the history of the area. But they appear to be maugrim in stature and in appearance, except they are pale of skin with eyes that freeze with the heart of ice. I couldn't get too close because they were watching the skies."

"Do you know what they are Tuk-Tuk?" Nay said.

Tuk-Tuk shook his head. "The things that dwell in the Black Ice Wastes are of the dark."

"What do you propose?" Lain said. "I can request a squad of Gloom Rangers to travel to the border for more surveillance. Maybe even a scouting party to investigate further."

Ilyawraith took a sip of wine and set the half-empty glass on the table. "I propose all of us travel to Tuk-Tuk's settlement to consult with the leaders of the Twelve Tribe."

"Why all of us?" Nay said.

"I'm sure there are many great warriors like Tuk-Tuk amongst the tribemen," Ilyawraith said. "But they will also need support because of our particular skill-set."

"Who's going to run the Lodge?" Nay said.

"Gracie and the girls can keep the place in business while we are gone," Quincy said. "Customers might complain, but the menu can go back to baked fish for a bit."

"I can leave her with some simple recipes," Nay said. "We have enough crab and fish for steamed crab and fish'n chips. Just because I'll be gone doesn't mean the diners have to suffer."

"Gracie's cooking has gotten much better than you're giving her credit for," Nom said. "I taught her a few things while you were away for your training."

"I still have a lot more training to do," Nay said. "Especially for something like this."

"If you are worried," Ilyawraith said, "know that we'll be making a few stops in order to branch out your Delicacy trees on our way up North." She tapped on the leather case containing Martygan's map. The one marked with the monsters containing Marrows and Delicacies.

"You once asked me what we were going to do about this threat in the North," Quincy said. "This is it. We will stop Martygan and the Nether Sister's plans to disrupt this thing entombed in the black ice. If we ignore it and don’t lend help to the Twelve Tribes, it could mean the end of Lucerna's End."

"I will send word to Fort Nixx immediately," Lain said. She excused herself and headed out of the tavern.

"Get back in time for dessert," Nay said. "I have crystal berry cobbler."

"It's all hands on deck," Quincy said. "We'll settle our affairs here and then leave in two days time."