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Her smile is sneaky like a fiery fox
It's that look that tells you she's up to no good at all
And she'll say whatever's on her mind...
Oh we're gonna find another way back home
It's written in our blood, oh it's written in our bones
Yeah, we'll only be bound by the things we choose
— Lucius, "Wildewoman"
"Well, that was an adventure I won't soon forget." Nedoris might have shuddered if she still had the energy, but after trudging through miles of catacombs and fighting a giant clockwork overseer, it was all that she could do to stay on her feet. She would have leaned on her familiar Night Mare for support, but upon emerging from the caverns directly below the heart of the city of Trye, she had dismissed it back to its home dimension. No point in panicking the peaceful populace. An armored tiefling warrior they could accept, but a flame-wreathed beast of the Nine Hells was beyond the pale.
Zariel's blood, she was exhausted. Which made it all the more annoying that the half-elven fighter by her side still had a bounce in her barefooted step. She had introduced herself that morning (was it truly only that morning?) as Lillianna Sandrackian, and the university had put her in charge of their little excursion. Nedoris had taken the job for a bit of (what she had thought would be) easy cash; room and board at the famed Coldhammer didn't come cheap.
"Coldhammer?" Lilly echoed. Nedoris blinked. Had she been tired enough to start thinking out loud? "Good place for a party, but Faradin charges arm and a leg for rooms, don't he?" She shook her head. "Nah, come stay at our place. Got space, and Vi won't mind."
Nedoris blinked again, and looked around. It was just the two of them; the gnome, the dragonborn, the drow, and that infernally infuriating buffoon Garmir had gone on ahead. "I... really?" She didn't try to hide her surprise. "You barely know me."
Lilly flashed her impish grin. "Deadly wi' a sword. Cool horse. Rest can wait. 'Less you got a weird diet, we'll have to order out dinner then."
Nedoris' jaw dropped. No one in the history of Crosilia had ever called a Night Mare "cool" — of that, she was certain. Then the sense of the rest of Lilly's statement penetrated the haze of exhaustion, and her mouth snapped shut. She shook her head. "Whatever you have is fine. I don't want to be any bother."
"Right! This way then." Lilly grabbed her hand and tugged her in the direction of the university. Nedoris, stumbling, let herself be led toward what she hoped would be, if nothing else, a more quiet place to rest than the Coldhammer.
Nedoris woke all at once, on heightened alert. It sounded like a small animal was being tortured somewhere nearby.
Where was she? Instead of the Coldhammer's starched sheets, she found herself tangled in soft blankets and a patchwork quilt. Although her sword was close at hand, her armor was nowhere to be seen. She sat upright, listening. Midmorning sunlight filtered through closed curtains, casting dim shadows dappled by the leaves of... trees? Then she remembered. Lillianna and Violet. She was in their spare bedroom.
She relaxed, only to tense again as the awful squealing sound returned. Nedoris rose quietly, grabbing her sword with one hand while easing the bedroom door open with the other. She peered around the edge of the door frame, looking for the source of the sound.
Lilly was perched in a large stuffed armchair, her equipment strewn across the floor at her feet. In her hands was a small wind instrument: a fife. Nedoris realized that she had seen it yesterday, a whole ball of them — a product of the gnome cleric's strange transmutation magic. Lilly had kept one, and was tooting it experimentally.
Nedoris cleared her throat. "I prefer the kazoo, myself."
Lilly startled, then grinned. "Oh good, someone's finally awake." She pointed with the fife in the direction of the other bedroom. "Vi's a night owl, always sleeps 'til nearly lunchtime, 'less she has a faculty meeting. I was just going through my things." She was wearing only a loose tunic, and her short hair was damp.
Nedoris took this as a hopeful sign. "Is there somewhere to get cleaned up?"
"Of course! Through there..." Lilly gestured with the other arm, and Nedoris involuntarily gasped. There were runes glowing there, a sinister blue - runes that could only mean one thing. Nedoris felt the familiar righteous fury rise up, and as she narrowed her eyes, she knew that they would have begun to blaze with white light.
"Who," Nedoris grated. "Do I need to kill. For THAT."
"Um." Lilly hastily lowered her arm. "No one? I... exploded them." She reached down into the pile of equipment and grabbed a vambrace, pulling it quickly over her arm to hide the slave mark.
Nedoris closed her eyes and took practiced calming breaths. When she reopened her eyes a few moments later, they looked normal again.
"Good." And without another word, she strode off to find the bath. Only when she turned to close the door behind her, did she realize that her sword was still tightly clenched in the other hand.
A long, hot soak gave her time to reflect as her muscles slowly loosened. Either Lilly or Vi was evidently fond of floral scents, and she used some of their perfumed soap to clean the last of the dust and grease from her purple-hued skin before settling deep into the water and letting her thoughts drift.
She considered what she had learned so far about her new friend. Impulsive, quick to laugh, fond of simple pleasures... her personality fit the profile of someone who was living out a second childhood. Which made perfect sense, if her first one had been stolen from her. It gave her a deceptive air of innocence.
But there was no such thing as an innocent slave. Just seeing the runes had awoken her sense of injustice... and only Lilly's reassurance that her former owners had already faced retribution had kept her rage in check.
Somehow, Lilly had freed herself. Sounded like it had been messy... also not surprising, given what she had seen so far of the girl in action. And she had found acceptance and employment at the university. Even, apparently, found love.
Nedoris was reluctantly impressed. She had never been able to live anything like a normal life after her world was destroyed. Her entire focus had been on her overwhelming need for revenge on the perpetrators, honing herself into a weapon with a single purpose. And once that purpose was fulfilled, she was left a mere shadow of her former self, haunting evildoers across the empire. She was strong, sure - but the brittle kind of strength that could shatter under pressure. She envied Lilly's resilience.
A sudden thought: I learned to be hard. Maybe I could learn how to become soft again.
It was probably wishful thinking, but she couldn't shake the idea. There was no denying that her life had felt out of balance for a while. The single-minded pursuit of vengeance wasn't a healthy long-term lifestyle. The city of Trye seemed like a good place for a fresh start, and she had made at least one friend here already.
Another thought, less welcome: That is, assuming I didn't frighten her out of her wits just now.
She cursed under her breath and climbed out of the bath. Wouldn't that be just her luck?
She needn't have worried. Nedoris found Lilly in the kitchen fixing brunch, and before she could begin to apologize, Lilly was peppering her with questions about how she liked her bacon, did she even eat bacon, what about eggs, what did she take in her coffee, and she found herself sitting down to eat before she could get a word in edgewise.
Violet stumbled in behind her, drawn by the smells of coffee and bacon, mumbling something about arcane signifiers. Lilly made noises of polite interest and kept refilling her mug until she pushed her chair back from the table and inhaled deeply. "Right. What was I saying?"
"I don't have the slightest idea." Lilly smiled fondly. "But you should get going — it's maybe fifteen minutes until fourth bells."
"FOURTH? Gods, I'm late already." Violet lurched out of the chair and scrambled toward the front of the cozy house. "Bag's by the door," called Lilly. "Thanks, love," came the reply, and the door slammed shut a moment or two later.
"Did she even..."
"She keeps her academic robes in her office." Lilly sank into the chair that Vi had just vacated, ready for her own meal at last. "Sorry, she's not really functional until her third cup of coffee."
"Ah, the perils of caffeine addiction."
"We all got our vices, don't we?" Lilly cocked an eyebrow as she dug into her plate.
"I'll have you know that I'm a paragon of virtue."
Lilly snorted around a mouthful of food. Swallowing, she replied, "In that case, you should know that paragons snore."
Nedoris opened her mouth to protest, but Lilly plowed on. "Anyway, let's get back to basics. Why'd your eyes glow like that?"
Nedoris closed her mouth, then picked up her mug and took a long sip. She decided to reply with a question of her own. "What do you know about tieflings?"
Lilly shrugged. "Got demon blood, but not that different from regular folks. Don't explain the eyes, do it?"
"Yes and no." Nedoris waggled her hand. "For most of my kind... no. For me..." She trailed off, unsure what to say next.
Lilly sighed. "You saw my damage. Secret's safe wi' me."
Nedoris shook her head. "It's not a secret. Just... I'm not in the habit of explaining myself to anyone. I... sorry."
Lilly nodded acquiescence, and returned to her food. Eventually, Nedoris resumed speaking.
"I know some tieflings aren't loved by their parents, but I was. My mom and dad were wonderful. I even had a little sister. She..." Nedoris swallowed. "She was the sun to my moon."
Lilly's eyes widened, but she said nothing. After a moment, Nedoris blurted out the unspeakable part. "When the fiends came for them, I wasn't home. I found the bodies." For the first time in years, she felt tears forming, and she covered her face with her hands.
She heard Lilly's chair scrape against the floor. Strong arms held her as she wept silently. Once she got herself under control again, she wiped her eyes and looked up. "You've seen me cry, so now I have to kill you. Sorry, I don't make the rules."
"S'fair," Lilly replied solemnly. "But finish the story first." She returned to her seat.
"You haven't guessed the rest?"
Lilly regarded Nedoris attentively, elbows on the table, chin resting in her hands. "Humor me 'fore I meet my doom."
Nedoris directed her attention downward, her hands clasped tightly together. "My devilish ancestor is Zariel, Archduchess of Avernus. She heard my oath of vengeance and consecrated it with her power."
Lilly had sucked in a breath on the word "oath" which exploded outward. "Oi, you're a paladin!"
"Well, I was. After I tracked down the monsters that murdered my family and killed them all, I lost my purpose. So these days I'm just another sword for hire."
"Like 'ells you are." Lilly was indignant. "You got one whiff of evil this mornin' and nearly went ballistic."
"That's true." Nedoris sighed. "I'm sorry about that, by the way."
"Sorry?" Lilly laughed. "You're joking, right? That was BADASS."
That surprised a laugh out of Nedoris in turn, which came out sounding like a hiccup. To cover her embarrassment, she demurred. "I bet you say that to all your friends."
"Well yeah, I have the badassiest friends." Lilly brightened. "We're friends! Does that mean you won't kill me after all?"
Nedoris pretended to think for a moment. "Tell you what. I'll save your death for last."
"Oh, brilliant, we've got loads of time then." Lilly began to clean up, then stopped. "Oi, can we feed your horse? Would it want to eat any of this?"
"It, uh." Nedoris was taken aback. "Um, it might like bacon? I can ask."
Lilly's eyes got really wide. "It talks???"
"Not talks, no. We just... can understand each other. Without talking."
"Ohhhhh, that is sooooo coooool." Lilly sighed wistfully. "I wish I was friends with a mind-reading fire horse."
"Well, you're welcome to hang out with mine. I mean, as long as I'm here."
"Right then. You should stay here. As long as you like. And your horse." She resumed picking up the dishes, and began to set aside bites of leftovers for the Night Mare.
Nedoris shook her head. Violet might indulge Lilly's hospitality for a few days, but surely not indefinitely. Still, there was no harm in letting her think she was getting her own way. She really was like a child in so many respects.
She bowed her head over her folded hands and began the summoning. Once the invocation was complete, she sent her thoughts out to the Lower Planes: "I have no need of you today, but if you're not too busy and feel like coming back for a visit, the girl you met yesterday wants to feed you treats and tell you how beautiful you are."
The response was tinged with gentle amusement. :I'm not one of your tame mortal beasts.:
"No," Nedoris agreed. "You're a primal manifestation of terror and vengeance. Do you like bacon?"
:Oh, all right. As long as it's crispy bacon.:
Nedoris came back to herself and stretched. "It just wants the crispy bits." She stood and began to walk toward the back door. Lilly dashed in front of her and yanked it open just as the Night Mare manifested in the small yard, smoldering as gently as possible out of consideration for the residential neighborhood.
Lilly's eyes shone brightly. "Does it 'ave a name?"
Nedoris uttered a harsh series of syllables in the Infernal language. The Night Mare whickered softly. "But I nicknamed it Snowball."
:You think you're so funny.: The Night Mare snorted. :I was promised bacon.:
"Snowball," breathed Lilly. "Perfect."
:Lovely, now you've got her saying it too.:
"It's an appalling conspiracy." Nedoris gently pushed Lilly forward. "Go ahead, don't be shy."
As she watched the Night Mare lip bits of charred bacon from Lilly's plate as daintily as any pampered pony, Nedoris reflected on the part of her story she had left out. How she had originally intended, once her family's deaths were avenged, to join them in the afterlife, because she couldn't imagine continuing on without them. A lonely planet without a star, drifting and lost in the void.
She couldn't explain why she had changed her mind. She wasn't afraid to die — the better part of her was dead already, buried with the bodies of the ones she loved. But in the end, she discovered that her belief in a life worth living wasn't quite extinguished after all. Just dormant. Waiting for a breath of hope to coax it back into flame.
Lilly's words in the catacombs came back to her, unbidden. "Whatever happens, don't let me be turned into one of them. Kill me if you have to."
Nedoris realized, then, that they were fighting the same fight: to live and die on their own terms, instead of being bound by the hands of fate.
"Tragedies may have shaped us, but they don't define us."
She didn't know that she had spoken the words aloud until Lilly turned to grin at her.
"Amen, sister."
