"Sutek, damn him. He has abandoned us. Abandoned us in
this accursed realm to die and rot!" Nosfentre pounded the desk with his fist.
His beard quivered while he continued. "I never should have taken my eyes off
of him. He spoke about another expedition, but refused my offer to join him.
When I awoke this morning, I found the skiff gone. This was left in its place."
He tossed me the scroll, which was unopened and addressed to me. "He has doomed
us all! With the skiff gone, we are stranded on this island. Damn him to the
Abyss. We were fools to have trusted him. Look at what he has done to you,
Johne!"
"'Tis not Sutek who causes Johne to suffer, dear Nosfentre,"
Faulina said, rising from the bed.
"Then what is it?" he demanded. "I have never seen such a
sickness."
As they argued, I unrolled the scroll, and read Sutek's
spidery script:
Captain,
I am sorry to leave,
but time grows short. I must find a way for us to reach the surface. I could
not allow one of thy companions to accompany me. They would only hinder me, and
there is a darkness that shadows those three.
But rest easy,
Captain, the illness that plagues thee will have subsided when I return.
—Thy friend,
Sutek
Nosfentre and Faulina had ceased arguing, and both
regarded me. "What did that foul mage have to say?" the fighter demanded.
I rolled up the scroll, and laid it next to my side. There is a darkness that shadows those
three. "He offers his apologies for leaving so abruptly," I lied. "He will
return in a few weeks."
* * *
9/10/137
I dreamt of comets
again,
And often I hear
voices . . .
"Avenge us," they
say.
* * *
9/21/137
The days pass
slowly, and I am recovering. I spend much of my time with the others, yet their
presence offers no companionship. They watch me, the three of them. They hide
it well, but I know. I hear their whispers, if not the words. I see their
glances. Astarol may continue to sing and recite his tales, but his gaze flickers
with envy and hatred when Faulina and I are together. Nosfentre's fear and
suspicion of Sutek's betrayal grows with each passing day, and I fear that he
is beginning to feel that I am in league with the mage. Still, he is the only
one I can trust. And Faulina . . . dear, dear Faulina. I hear the lies beneath
thy nightly proclamations of love; I see the uncertainty in thy beautiful eyes
as thou dost choose between me and the bard.
I often read Sutek's
last message . . .
There is a darkness
that shadows those three.
. . . and when I
read it, I often sense that I am not alone, that others read the scroll with
me. But when I turn to confront them, they are not there.
* * *
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