A Time for Haste

> "ALDUIN!" Elfiran shouts, "GET YER LAZY ARSE DOWN HERE AND BRING THOSE
> SMELLY LOUTS WITH YOU, OR YE'LL BE LEFT BEHIND!"  Elfiran glances over at
> Balefire and sees the great warrior about to crack up.  "Aye Bale, if thet
> do nay get 'im down here, nuttin will."  Elfiran continues to gorge himself
> while waiting for the rest of the party members to arrive in his great
> common room..............
> 
     The tavern door thundered aside, admitting the redguard, K'tarin. He 
came into the room at a furious pace. His expression was dangerous, the usual 
impassivity broken by a fierce scowl. His black eyes flashed beneath his 
heavy brow. Fresh blood stained his face and hands. His great axe was 
uncheathed and its black head gleamed redly. He spoke for the first time, 
his voice was like a thundercloud.
     "They've gone!"
     At his entrance, only Balefire and Twilight were ready for combat. 
They had spun around in their seats and nearly drew their weapons at the 
sight of the redguard. The rest were caught in mid-bite or with mugs to 
their lips. J'layah choked on her cheese and started a coughing fit.
     K'tarin paid them no heed and raced up the stairs, three steps at a 
time. The redguard was out of sight before Elfiran could berate him for 
treating his door so badly, which now was slowly swinging back closed 
again from the force of the rebound. Mea Culpa offered J'layah a drink, 
absently forgetting it contents. J'layah took a swig of the ale, almost 
choking in surprise. It was Mea's turn to blush.
     Everyone could hear the redguard pounding down the corridor 
upstairs, then the door to Alduin's room being flung aside. There was a 
muffled shout of surprise and a quick, heated conversation, then more 
thumping of the redguard jogging back up the corridor with something in tow.

     Alduin was sleeping comfortably for perhaps the first time in three 
weeks. No hard ground, no cold nights, no rain on his bare head. He was 
slowly coming into that comfortable place between sleep and wakefulness 
when the door slammed aside. The small man gave a loud snort of surprise 
as he was rather rudely pulled from the bed. He was set roughly on his 
feet and clothes were being shoved over his head. It was all he could do 
to stay upright.
     "Master, we must leave. Now"
     Alduin could stand on his own now, and was hastily pulling on his 
boots before the redguard could do it for him.
     "What are you talking about? Are the others gone?" Alduin dismissed 
that. "They wouldn't leave without us."
     The redguard shook his head violently. "It's S'talin and Shomshar.
They've left."
     The redguard wouldn't elaborate more as he snatched Alduin's belongings
and hauled the scribe down the hall. Alduin found himself, blinking and
bleary-eyed, in the midst of the common room, all eyes staring at him. He
tried to imagine himself, bedraggled, his fringe of white hair waving about,
his robes and boots uneven. He flushed in embarassment and anger, but as
sleep left his mind, he perceived the bloody state of his traveling
companion. Apphrension stamped out his anger, and promptly sat on his
embarassment. All eyes were now trained on the redguard. It dawnd on Alduin
that the man had made quite an impression this morning.
     *What the blazes is going on?* though Alduin.
     K'tarin got straight to the point.
     "We must leave now."
     He got quite a diverse reaction from his audience. Balefire and Elfrian
were competing for the darkest scowl. Twilight and Mea Culpa were on the
edge of their seats, a bit taken aback at this strange redguard giving them
orders. Tabanallis was still shoving pastry in his face. J'layah didn't
know how to take all this. With effort, K'tarin elaborated.
     "My companions, S'talin and Shomshar, have fled. Not long after dawn,
I was awakened by their leaving. The left out the back and I followed them
for I knew something was strange in this. I followed them for some distance
and spied them meeting with a Dark Brother. I confronted them. The Brother
fled into the woods while S'talin and the breton stayed me. I could not kill
them before Shomshar teleported them both to safety. They are spies of the
Brotherhood. My trust in them was misplaced. For that, they will die."
     K'tarin's face was impassive again, but his eyes were unchanged. They
blazed with fury. Without further comment, he turned back up the stairs to
gather his things.

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Alduin dor Lammoth