Linzi lay curled up on an unprocessed, smelly owlbear pelt spread out in the bottom of the boat, furrowed herself into the warm woolen blanket, and tried to sleep, as the baroness had ordered. It wasn't easy. The soft rocking of the boat, rowed by two militiamen down the Gudrin towards Lake Tuskwater, didn't help as much as it should have. What also didn't help was Tristian hugging her tightly in his sleep, as if she were some stuffed toy or whatnot. He was probably going through a nervous breakdown. Feeling sorry for him, Linzi resigned to her role as a comfort item without a single word of protest. There was no other way, as they had only been able to acquire two boats, with limited sleeping space to be shared by three spellcasters and a leopard inseparable from its mistress.

  There had been too much excitement today. Too much stink in the goblin fort, too much death outside it, and then the spat with Kesten and Guelder's ruthless counterstrike. Kesten was a nice guy, but he should have known better than thinking he would get to call the shots in an endeavour as important as this one. Of course, Hazel was certain this would grow into something bigger, given enough time. Kesten Garess was the black sheep of an important Brevan noble house, popular among the people, relatively good with the sword, moderately interested in the opposite sex... A real paragon of normalcy compared to a semi-feral druid of unknown lineage who was rumoured to roam the streets in beast form on moonlit nights, hunting for naughty children to devour. It was just a matter of time for him to get notions.

  Linzi didn't believe any of that. Kesten wanted to be a hero, and that was a completely normal aspiration on the part of a young nobleman. Also, he wanted to spare the baroness from walking into another potentially life-threatening situation, and that was something to appreciate. By that time, Guelder had been through a series of squabbles with Hazel, who (as much as her intermediate-level knowledge of Elven had allowed Linzi to understand) had tried to convince her to let them kill off the infected captives before they could hatch. Apparently, Hazel was too close to her heart to suffer the consequences themself, so the baroness had chosen to unleash her rage at poor Kesten instead. She'd acted unjustly, and Linzi had told her as much. (Perhaps "Linzi the Irreverent" was indeed a good pen name for her.)

  With a hint of satisfaction, Linzi could tell that Guelder had taken her rebuke to heart, and now probably she, too, was struggling to get some sleep, second-guessing herself, ever so scared of starting down the slippery slope of becoming a mad tyrant. All the better. Later on, the baroness would likely apologise to Kesten and restore him into his position, maybe even decorate him if he really managed to sort out the murderous plant. If she didn't... well, this could turn ugly. Linzi could tell that once Jaethal took wind of Kesten's insubordination, she would make her devise a smear campaign against him. That would be hateful indeed... but also an exciting literary challenge. What could Linzi use? His occasional alcohol issues? His humiliating defeat by the goblins? Should she simply repurpose her invective drafts against Irovetti, swapping out the name? Would Kesten break under the blows of her vitriolic words or become enraged? How far would he go in order to restore his honour?

  Linzi tried to relax and banish these thoughts from her mind. According to Guelder, any period of time spent lying down with eyes closed qualified as rest, even if one's thoughts were racing. The body would take the sleep it needed anyway, although the mind might fail to realise that. Then it must be okay to compose a song while trying to fall asleep. About the trouble up ahead, and the river that ran red... and the queen who killed her double... did that make sense at all? Did the lyrics have to make sense at all for a song to be great? A song… to be great…

  A scream ripped into Linzi's sleeping mind.

  She tore herself out of Tristian's embrace, waking him in the process, and peeked out over the edge of the boat. They had already left the bed of the Gudrin and were making their way across the open surface of Lake Tuskwater, the capital barely visible on the horizon through the mists rising from the lake. Linzi shuddered. Whatever the issue was, she didn't want to end up in the water once again. Even though Amiri had taught the basics of swimming to the non-seaworthy members of the field team back in the quiet summer afternoons of the month of Arodus, now it was winter, the water was freezing cold, and the shore was too far away for Linzi to ever make it.

  Nok-Nok was standing in the prow of the other boat, pointing at the water, more exactly at the V-shaped wake of something speeding towards them. Guelder was on her knees, casting protective spells, while Hazel stood up, rocking the boat dangerously, taking aim with their bow.

  "What's that?" muttered Valerie, staring at the water, her hand on the hilt of her sword. How would she avoid capsizing the boat if it came to a fight? And how would she swim out in her heavy armour?

  There was no chance Guelder could hear Valerie's question, but she answered it nonetheless.

  "Hydra! Split ways! Tristian, Delay Poison, Protection from Cold, now!"

  As Tristian started to chant his spells, clutching his holy symbol like a lifelink, Hazel's first arrow hit true, and a streak of pink mixed into the water in the invisible monster's wake. It was heading straight towards Linzi's boat.

  The bard couldn't find the strength in her heart remove her lute from its waterproof case. Instead, she fumbled in her pocket for a backup instrument: a small device called a harmonica. She'd won it in a game of dice from a Varnhold bard named Arno after the banquet following the summit, and it was allegedly waterproof. Now it was time to see how her new riverboat song translated to harmonica tunes.

  As she raised the instrument to her lips and slipped a dagger into her other hand, just in case, the monster's three heads broke the surface just beside the boat, struggling to tear itself free from a bunch of sticky pondweed. It must have crossed an entire jungle of aquatic plants. Or was that Guelder trying to slow it down with some unexpected plant growth?

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Valerie moved closer to Linzi, struggling to keep her balance in the rocking boat. Tristian's hands came alight with fire, readying himself to cauterise the stump in case Valerie managed to slice a head off. An arrow hit the side of the boat, the second one pierced a long, scaly neck. The beast hissed in fury, and another head's terrible jaws snapped shut around Linzi, snatching her out of the boat.

  She didn't even have time to scream. The ring on her finger hummed to life, and she thought she heard the teeth of the hydra clack together, biting into emptiness. It felt like spinning around in a whirlwind, losing any sense of direction, close to getting torn apart at any moment. Where would it take her now? Was there a safe place in Nightvale at all, when the barony was teeming with Bloom monsters?

  Please, please not to Pitax...

  The place Linzi found herself in was stuffy with the smell of many people penned up in a tight spot. As she looked around, she saw many familiar faces from the streets of the capital. Vendors, craftspeople, families with children, orphans, huddling in a large, closed space with a big brazier in the middle.

  The Tuskdale throne room.

  How was this the safest place available?

  Anyway, the brazier had been removed from its pedestal and set on the ground, and a large cauldron was hung above it. A couple of men and women were busying themselves with peeling root vegetables. It would have been a cosy scene, had the atmosphere not been thick with fear and trauma.

  "Linzi?"

  As she turned back, she saw a bearded man in his late thirties. It was one of Jhod Kavken's acolytes, a Brevan petty noble by the name Genner Alevi (suspected by Jaethal to be a spy, but Linzi didn't give a damn to such allegations).

  "Hello, Genner. What's going on here?"

  "You start. Where is the baroness?"

  Linzi tried her best to sound positive and confident. These people needed to hear the best-case scenario, regardless if it was true or not.

  "On her way here with the team. Crossing the lake right now. She will soon make landfall at the piers, it's just that we ran across a hydra out there... but you can expect her any minute now!"

  The din of life around them grew silent. Linzi sensed the anticipation of the audience, and repeated the news louder.

  "Baroness Guelder is coming to the rescue! Hang in there, everyone! This nightmare will end soon! The dark times will pass! No, sorry, questions will have to wait. You'll find out about everything in due time, I promise!"

  With the acolyte's help, she escaped from the curious throng of people, weaving her way between legs and skirts, and used the occasion to get filled in on the events in the capital.

  The prison they were using as a quarantine and emergency hospital had exploded with monsters. The beasts had soon erupted to the streets and had begun hunting for people. The majority of the population had been evacuated in time and (thanks to Octavia, who'd insisted that this was what the baroness would do) herded into the safety of the palace. Surprisingly, the Storyteller had displayed a strong magical skillset he had been keeping concealed in the depths of his mind, unbeknownst even to himself, and created a magical barrier around the palace that kept the monsters out and the people in. Kassil had disappeared without trace. There was gossip going around that he'd been seen riding out the north gate on a horse that was not his own. The currently inactive members of Guelder's field team (Amiri, Regongar, Octavia, Harrim, Jaethal and Ekundayo) had organised themselves into a team of their own right, bypassed the Storyteller's barrier by a teleportation spell, and set out to do some monster culling on the streets. The town guard were still out there fighting, as was Jhod Kavken, and probably Verdel the blacksmith, too. There might be a few more pockets of resistance, but that was only guesswork or wishful thinking.

  Linzi was torn inside. Should she stay and play some music to soothe the nerves of these frightened people and give them hope (and also partake in whatever they were cooking in that cauldron)? Or should she somehow make her way outside and rejoin Guelder? But how would she find her in a monster-infested, half-ruined capital? She couldn't choose. And maybe she didn't have to. Three songs for the people, then she would get her hands on a Scroll of Dimension Door and try her luck outside. It was time to find out whether Guelder had improved the security of her treasure chests since Linzi had informally drawn down a loan from them to purchase her printing machine.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brzzM31G4x8&list=RDbrzzM31G4x8&start_radio=1