The Blight

[PepsiWhirda]

"Things are different here," Whirda agreed. "Time was, my blows carried more weight." She twirled her kukris as she spoke, almost plaintively. "But I feel stronger with each passing hour, it seems. We'll return to form. Don't worry."

"I hope so," Nyx sighed.

The war drums grew louder. They cut a wide arc around the goblin band. Their brief talk with the man in green had raised far more questions than it answered. Too many for Whirda simply to walk away. Though his rescue of Nyx stung her pride—how could it not?—, she nevertheless owed him a debt. He was right to want Nyx out of the fighting. She was weak, for now, though Whirda could sense the same glimmer of power rising within her as she felt in herself. She was a liability Whirda couldn't afford in such unfamiliar territory.

"When I was young," she said after a time, "I was trained by the finest battle mage in the realms. I came from a life of frailty, where the sharpest tongues ruled and every period of interregnum bled until the gutters of Waterdeep frothed red. If I hadn't escaped—if she hadn't rescued me—that would be who I am. Instead of this." She tossed her blades high and twirled into an easy cartwheel, righting herself in time to catch them reverse grip by their hilts. All in one fluid movement.

"Who was she?" Nyx asked.

Whirda smiled. "My mother."

The war drums were behind them now. Whirda turned and angled herself toward the receding thrums, Nyx close behind.

"She sounds wonderful." The bandages on Nyx's hands were spotted with brownish bloodstains. If the girl minded, she didn't show it.

"She was," Whirda said.

"Oh." Nyx searched for something to say. "I'm sorry."

"I'd like to think I was brought here for a reason. In Faerûn, isolation was all I knew. I hunted creatures like these and sold trophies of their flesh to get by. I deluded myself into thinking I was doing good, suffering some self-assigned purgatory to repent for allowing her to.... What I mean is, whether this place holds the power I need to avenge her, or a chance to do some real good, either way it's a step up, right? So I'm grateful. To whoever brought us here. To you for walking beside me. Don't ever think you're a burden."

"Whirda—" Nyx began, a moment before the mass of mottled flesh dropped to the ground between them.