It was during his second sleeping period when Kraghtol woke up from noises from the door. The lanterns outside were dark, which meant it was night, and Kraghtol couldn’t see much when he heard the door opening. It was too early for their food, and whoever had entered had no light with them and moved silently until they arrived right in front of Kraghtol’s cell. He didn’t dare breathe. Was this an assassin sent to dispose of them before the orderkeepers did?
Suddenly, a low cackle broke the silence.
“You’ve come far, so very far from home, my green friend, have you not? A true pity you’re not getting any farther, caught behind bars like that.”
Valir woke up with a start and mumbled something about his servants, but Kraghtol paid no attention. He knew this voice. This cackle. But this was entirely impossible.
“How?” he began, but the voice on the other side interrupted him.
“Hush. You don’t want the red dwarves to wake, no you don’t. Especially not the red ones.”
That statement seemed to amuse the person on the other side for unknown reasons, and Valir used the opportunity to whisper: “Who is that?”
“I don’t know his name. But it’s my first patient from Mistpine. The one I got the potion from. And it’s entirely impossible for him to be here.”
“Is it though? I am here, am I not? And I was so very much surprised to see you here, in that small room without exit,” the elderly man murmured, as if talking to himself. Under different circumstances,Kraghtol would have questioned the sudden appearance of the mysterious man before anything else. He clearly wasn’t here by accident.
The half-orc breathed out carefully. He knew the geezer was mad. But he might be their only chance of escaping.
“Can you help us? Can you let us out?”
“Oh. Out, you say? Within, Without — isn’t that just a matter of perspective? From your perspective, maybe I am the captive,” he chuckled again and Kraghtol drew another breath. How mad was the other man exactly? He had noticed him casually dropping the names of two Principles. It came as no surprise that he knew them, since he obviously knew alchemy well enough to produce a body-altering potion. But why now? Was he mocking him?
“Listen, I really don’t have time for this. Can you open the door?Please?”
“Certainly. That’s easy, is it not? With a key. Or perhaps without.”
Kraghtol felt anger rising again.
“Please. Open. The. Doors,” he pressed out between his teeth, trying to keep his temper. Something about the man on the other side made him furious.
Perhaps he picked up on that, or perhaps Kraghtol’s last plea had been enough to pierce the madness, but a quick burst of silent blue fire engulfed the lock of his cell door, followed shortly by a second on Valir’s door. It had been too sudden for Kraghtol to see which alchemical mixture the old man had used, but it was effective nonetheless. Both doors opened as if unlocked.
“What?! How?” whispered Valir, staring at the dark figure.
“I think he’s an old alchemist, who’s gone completely… I mean, you heard him talk.”
“Can we trust him?”
That was a good question, and Kraghtol had to ponder that for a moment.
“I think yes — to some degree. He’s not sane, but obviously very skilled in what he does. And for some reason, he has taken a liking to me. The potion he gave me worked flawlessly.”
The old man was humming to himself, obviously pretending not to hear the whispered conversation. Only when Kraghtol stepped out did his mouth split into a wide grin with few teeth.
“Ah, embracing the sweet freedom after all. I wonder how it might taste. Good for you! Well decided!”
Kraghtol ignored the ramblings and looked the old man straight in the eye, who tried to evade his gaze, turning his head away. “It’s no coincidence you’re here, is it? You’ve been following me. Even in Winterstone, it was you. It was you we saw on the stairs, and you were there at the explosion. Why did you hide?”
The gnarly figure shrugged, moving too many limbs. “You are unique, are you not? So green and strong and helpless and different. And I was curious, was I not?”
“Okay, this is creepy,” commented Valir, who was already rummaging through the chest.
Kraghtol couldn’t deny the sentiment. But then again, had the old geezer not been following him, they would still be in that cell. He carefully controlled his voice as he continued. “I don’t want you tofollow me anymore, okay? I’m grateful you helped us here, but this has to stop. Do you understand? I mean it.”
A series of movements went through the old man’s body as if he didn’t quite know how to react until he settled on another shrug-like motion. “Understand? Yes! Understanding is important, ever so important. Have you understood? Yes, of course you have. You don’t want me to go where you go? Or go where you might go? Or go where you have been?”
“Just don’t follow me anymore! It’s not that hard to understand. You’re obviously a great alchemist, so that shouldn’t be too complicated, right?”
