Azure bonds - Kate Novak [127]
"Drink this," Olive said, pushing the flask to his lips.
The draught tasted horrible, but Akabar let it slide down his throat. His mouth felt like he had been eating dirt, and his flesh crawled with a cold, clammy feeling, as if he had been immersed in water too long. He looked down and saw he was naked, save for a couple of halfling cloaks knotted around him for warmth.
"My… clothes?" the mage puzzled. His voice was reedy, as though he'd been singing or shouting for hours.
Olive motioned to the fire, "I'm afraid what was left wasn't worth keeping. Dragonbait thought you were dead, so we didn't bring any of your spare clothing." Her eyes brightened. "I emptied your pockets, though, and I brought your spell books." She pointed to a backpack near his feet.
"What happened-oh, gods," the mage moaned as his memory came rushing back. There'd been a fight in Yulash, then something hulking and oppressive had sat in his mind like a spider in a web. He wondered if this was how Alias felt after being forced to try to kill a priest and then the Wyvernspur noble.
"Take it easy," Olive said sharply. She was an impatient ministering angel. She put both her hands on his shoulders to hold him down, though the mage had made no effort to rise. "The short version is, after your little adventure in Yulash, Dragonbait came back to camp to get my help. When you three had gone. I was left alone to deal with Mist, who chose that moment to drop in. You remember Mist from Cormyr? Right. Anyway, I subdued her by the old codes, and the three of us went after you and Its Ooziness."
Olive paused for breath and to let what she had said sink into the Turmish mage's fevered brain. Then she started again, "Unfortunately, Its Ooziness mopped up the floor with us. Misty got slammed around pretty bad, but with me at the helm the old girl managed to damage the Abomination. It ran away from us, not the other way around. Though we did get knocked out of the sky. However, the luck of the halflings was with me, and I managed to land on a Red Plume mercenary's corpse. You sliced up Dragonbait a little before he could rescue you." She paused and then concluded reluctantly, "We didn't get Alias."
"Alias," muttered Akabar, trying to rise against the pressure of the halfling's hands. "She's still prisoner!"
"Reign in your horses," the halfling ordered. "You've been out for about eight hours. Another few won't make that much difference in catching up to that slithering compost heap, but it will make us all stronger. Dragonbait needs his beauty sleep so he can finish healing you and Misty. She snapped some wing bones when she fell, and she needs to restoke her furnaces before going into battle again. You need to study your spells. Drink more."
Akabar took another swig of the drink Olive offered and made a face. "Is this a healing draught?"
Olive shook the flask and giggled. "Some call it that. It's spiked honey mead. Last of my stock, too."
Akabar felt his empty stomach rise, then settle. So much for the halfling's skill as a nurse. "You say Dragonbait healed us. He did that before, when we were running from the Abomination in Yulash."
Olive nodded. "Yes. Turns out the little sneak's a paladin among his own people. He's been keeping it secret, but healing us when we weren't looking. Seems I can't trust anyone these days."
"A paladin?" Akabar murmured. "How do you know?"'
"He told me," Olive said. She dropped her voice to a whisper before going on. "Not only did he keep his profession secret all this time, but he can communicate. He doesn't use real words like you or me. He puts out scents, like a perfume shop. We can't understand him because our little noses aren't refined enough, but Mist can. He talks to her and she translates, and then he confirms what she's said by nodding his head. So you see, he does understand everything we've been saying."
Akabar shook his head to clear it. The halfling sounded angry, but the mage could not understand what had upset her. "So?" he asked.
"So!" Olive exclaimed, then dropped