Synopsis: Grand Quest I-Part 2

Once More Unto the Breach, Dear Friends

Continued from Part 1

At moonrise, they depart on a cloud barge. It heads for the center of the light side of the Moon to avoid detection from the dark, then skims along just above the surface as it approaches the terminator. The Moon is dotted with ruins, but there are many cats playing and cavorting among them. Just short of the dark side, it lands in a sea of oily liquid and cruises towards a dock. Once it ties up, the girls and Differel, with Medb, Uilmheidhrea, Ubasti, and Kami, disembark and head up a road towards the Moonbeast city. Saighlíne and Ssas'sashu'ra decide to remain behind with the barge. As they get close, Kami leads them overland around to the Leng Man slums and through the alleys to the dwelling of the leader of a resistance cell.

He is reluctant at first to help them, being as he fears discovery, but finally he reveals that the Moonbeasts have been having meetings with a Fomorian and an ambassador from a foreign power. He agrees to take then to where they can listen in on a meeting scheduled for tonight, but he doubts they will hear anything useful. He claims to know nothing of vast quantities of rubies being shipped to a secret location. He gives them food and drink and then leaves to conduct some business. Differel and Eile doesn't trust him, but Kami vouches for him, and Medb seems willing to accept her word. However, she is convinced he is holding back.

Some time later, he returns and leads them into the Moonbeast city. He takes them to a central tower complex and up to a chamber above the meeting hall. There, they can hear everything that is said, and see through a spy hole. He then leaves again, having official duties to attend to. It isn't long before two persons enter the hall. One is Bres; the other is a tall, thin being with smooth golden skin, long bluish-white hair, and piercing red eyes. They are soon joined by a Moonbeast, who is accompanied by the resistance leader. The Moonbeast speaks in a non-vocal language, which the Leng Man translates, though it understands what the other two say. It is upset with Bres that he has been unable to liquidate the Girls and Differel, and now they have involved Medb hErenn.

He assures it that it is only a matter of time, and that in any event they cannot stop their plan now. They have acquired sufficient cunae juice and rubies to achieve their goal; all they need now is a last batch of morbidun and they can build their army. The golden man then states that it is being collected now and will soon be delivered to Hazuth-Kleg. The Moonbeast seems pleased that their part in this venture is finished, but it reminds them of their agreement and admonishes them not to cheat. It then leaves, and the Leng Men escorts Bres and the golden man out. Differel's suspicions are enhanced by the fact that their contact is so intimately involved with the Moonbeasts, but Kami points out that that makes him invaluable.

A little later, the Leng Man returns to guide them back to his dwelling. As they pass through a plaza, however, he stops and informs Kami that he met with the other resistance leaders earlier, and they agreed that her party poses too great a threat to their cause. They are surrounded by armed Leng Men and forced to surrender. They are taken to another tower complex, and there stripped and placed in a cell. From the comments made by the Leng Men who incarcerated them, Kami realizes that the resistance is actually a sham, perpetrated by the Moonbeasts to weed out those in every generation who have the will to resist them. The revelation seems to crush her spirit, and the Girls feel sorry for her.

In a short while, the Leng Men herd them into a room that is set up for torture. The women are secured to stocks and they watch as various implements and devices are made ready. Eventually a Moonbeast enters, with the resistance leader translator. He translates a statement that they are to be put to death. As if to underscore that, Kami is unshackled and manhandled over to a platform, into which she is strapped. However, he continues, if any of the others wishes to cooperate and explain their mission, that person will be spared. Medb replies that she wishes to do so, since the others are expendable. She is freed, but before she talks she would like to know what is going on; it could have a bearing on what she needs to tell them.

The Moonbeast admits it doesn't know all the details. However, they had been approached by the Fomorians with a plan to create an army that would conquer the Dreamworld. This army was to be created by Dream power, the soldiers literally called into existence out of nothing. That's why the rubies are needed, to make their forms permanent. In exchange for their cooperation, the Moon would be left independent and the Moonbeasts could rule over the North, from their base at Sarkomand. It doesn't know what the cunae juice or morbidun will be used for, but it assumes they are needed to help make the army. When she tries to ask what morbidun is, the Moonbeast cuts her off and demands she explain their mission. She smiles, and says, "Now."

Saighlíne and Ssas'sashu'ra appear, along with a dozen cats. The cats attack the Leng Men while Saighlíne frees the women. Medb blasts the Moonbeast, but before she can subdue it, the resistance leader attacks her, allowing the Moonbeast to escape. Ssas'sashu'ra has the women's clothes and weapons, and as they dress and rearm themselves, Saighlíne frees Kami, then helps the cats take care of the Leng Men torturers. Medb subdues the resistance leader in short order, and demands that he talks, but he refuses. Having no time to interrogate him and not wishing to hamper themselves by taking him along, Medb gives him to Kami. However, she decides it is not the time or place for personal revenge, and she knocks him unconscious. She then snatches up her clothes and weapons and leaves with the rest.

Saighlíne and the cats lead them out of the tower and through the city. They encounter resistance, but are able to make it out. Medb offers to let Kami stay behind, but she decides to come with them. Leng Men militia close in, but they are intercepted by a legion of cats. However, more militia cut them off. Then Sunny notices a discarded metal trough. She and Eile get everyone in it, Medb pushes them off a slope, and they toboggan down through the militia towards the barge. Medb runs ahead of them, knocking militia out of the way, and the cats bring up the rear. They reach the barge and board, while the cats hold off the militia. Then they watch as the cats jump clear of the Moon back to the Dreamlands. They caste off and beat a hasty retreat.

Even as they climb away, however, a dozen black galleys rise up in pursuit from various locations. Saighlíne orders full speed, but the galleys still close in. The barge exchanges shots with the galleys as Saighlíne orders flank speed and Differel prepares to repel boarders. The galleys come close enough to exchange archery fire, when a fleet of barges bearing the royal standard of Ooth-Nargai sweep in and drive them off. They then form up with the women's barge and escort it back to Serannian. Along the way, they discuss what to do next. They decide that it is imperative they find out what morbidun is and what it can be used for. Afterwards, when Kami confesses that she feels lost without her cause, the Girls and Differel point out that it won't die as long as she continues to believe in it.

65 days left

Upon their arrival back in Serannian, they are taken immediately to Kuranes. The ambassador from Karchedon has arrived, and he will want to hear their report. Kuranes receives them in a private audience chamber, where they are given drink, and then the ambassador is announced as the Marquis of Elissa. Differel has her back to him, but as soon as he speaks, she goes into shock and whirls around. They lock eyes, and the Marquis seems as stunned as she is. She seems to fly into a panic as she pulls a pistol and points it at him, but she is trembling so violently she cannot hold it steady. She shouts at him about how he's supposed to be dead as he approaches her slowly, speaking in a calm voice. When he reaches her, she breaks down, collapses into his arms, and begins crying hysterically as he holds her. When the girls ask what's going on, he explains that he is or was her husband.

Kuranes suggests they leave them alone and he takes the others into a sitting room. They tell him about the plan and the morbidun. He has never heard of it, but orders his sages to research it immediately. He then suggests they rest, since it will take time to get an answer. They are shown to quarters, but the Girls find it hard to settle down; they are too worried about Differel. Finally, they go look for her. They are told she and the ambassador have gone to his suite, and they pay a visit. They find him up and he invites them in, explaining that Differel is asleep. When they ask about her, he says she'll be fine, she's just had a shock on top of everything else. He asks how they know her, and they explain about their first meeting and subsequent adventures.

He then explains about himself and her. His name is Victor Edward Plunkett, formerly Viscount of Dunwich. He first met her at a government conference in 2001, though he had known of her for some time. He was attached to the foreign office as a special troubleshooting envoy and diplomat, and he often had to smooth over ruffled relations after the Caerleon Order conducted on operation on foreign soil. He was taken with her right away, though she seemed mildly hostile towards him, and he spent a great deal of free time trying to meet her socially, despite her sometimes brusque brush-offs. She seemed irritated with his charming, friendly, and easy-going manner, and especially by the fact that it seemed impossible for her to offend him.

Nor did the end of the conference deter him, but he continued to leave her messages, then send letters, followed by flowers, chocolates, wine, whatever he thought would break the ice, for weeks on end. He understood that she assumed her indifference would persuade him to cease and desist, so he figured his persistence must have surprised her. Nonetheless, she never told him to bugger off, so he felt encouraged. Finally she agreed to have lunch with him, probably hoping that would satisfy him. She probably figured that if she was polite but cold he would finally get the message. Unfortunately, it backfired. She became so comfortable that she actually relaxed, and ended up having such a good time that "lunch" ran well into the afternoon.

They met numerous times over the next several weeks, first lunches, then dinners, then brunches, walks in the park, the theatre, the cinema, and finally weekend jaunts to their respective ancestral homes. He would have been satisfied if they had just remained friends, but she became attracted to him, and he was very happy when she confessed as much. As such, while in public they maintain the appearance of mere friendship, in private they engaged in more affectionate, intimate pastimes. Their affection grew into mutual love, and became stronger with each passing day, until he proposed to her at midnight on Christmas Eve, in the middle of a park, ground and trees covered in snow, light flurries drifted down around them. She said yes, and that night they consummated their love.

They were married in January and the subsequent three years were the happiest in his life. Unfortunately, relations with the Vatican had turned sour, and the Holy Order of St. Antony Demons-Bane became convinced he and Differel were monsters who had infiltrated the British government. They sent an Archangel, a monk specially trained to hunt monsters, to kill them. He attacked them on a Sunday morning at his family estate, when and where they would be most vulnerable. To give her a chance to get to a weapon, he engaged the assassin bare-handed to distract him, and was cut down. He must have been killed instantly, because his next memory was standing in the Cavern of Flame, being told he was dead. When they ask him how he had found his way there, he demurs, saying that is another story, and they need their rest.

Differel awakens and finds herself in a bed. She hears Victor talking in the other room, but as she gets up to go see, he walks in. He is surprised to see her up, but she assures him her collapse was just nervous exhaustion. Besides, she's more hungry than tired. He rings for a meal, and they sit out on the balcony. She asks him who he was talking to, and he replies her two young lady friends. She then asks how he came here. He begins by explaining that they told him of her arrival. He on the other hand has been a Dreamer as long as he can remember. He pauses long enough to wait until they are served, then continues when the servants leave.

During his childhood, he spent his Dream visits in Ulthar, housed in an orphanage-school set up to accommodate child Dreamers. Child Dreamers are sacrosanct and protected, but when they come of age, that protection is removed. When he came of age, he became an adventurer of sorts to support himself, but he also discovered that he had a talent for diplomacy. It wasn't long before he was being hired as a kind of troubleshooter, solving problems with word or sword, whatever was best. That experience served him well in the Waking World, and unlike many he found he had no problem keeping the two separate or preferring one over the other, though he did occasionally find himself wishing for an automatic weapon or a magic spell while in whichever world hadn't one or the other.

In time, his missions took him to the island nation of Punica and the city-state of Karchedon. He fell in love with both and elected to make them his Dream-home. The Punicae authorities began using him for diplomatic missions, and he distinguished himself so well that they knighted him, then made him a peer. Unlike in England, one could advance in peerage through good service, and he has now risen to the rank of marquis, with an island estate to support him. He serves as the ambassador to Ooth-Nargai, and as envoy to Dylath-Leen, their primary competitor for trade on the Southern Sea. All in all, it has been a good life, but a lonely one; he has missed her greatly, and in deference to her memory, he has never remarried, though he admits that he has had a number of lovers, both before and after his death.

She asks him why he never told her of his life here. He replies that after he had met her, he had hoped she was a Dreamer like himself, but when he could find no trace of her in the Dreamworld, he decided that no good could come of telling his love that she occupied roughly only 1% of his life. Besides, for the first time he found his Waking life more appealing than his Dream life, and he seriously considered discontinuing going there. She asks him why he never remarried, since for all intents and purposes she is dead to him. He turns the tables on her and asks why she never remarried, since he is dead to her, and she realizes his answer would be the same as hers. He then asks how Henry is doing. She had been dreading that question, but she confesses she hasn't seen their son for five years. When he asks why, she explains that she was so grief-stricken that she gave him up to his family. He asks if she regrets it, and she admits she does. He then strongly urges her to reconnect with him at any cost when she returns, before it is too late. She demurs by saying, "If I return."

To change the subject, she asks how he got here so fast, since Kuranes would only have sent for him yesterday. He smiles and takes her up onto the roof. There, in a stable, is a hippogriff. He explains that he found it as a colt after its mother had been killed by Leng Men. He raised it and it bonded to him; it became his steed, his protector, and his most loyal companion. While highly intelligent, it is also sensitive, very possessive, and somewhat solitary. It barely tolerates the servants who care for it, and it will allow no one else to approach it. Differel, remembering her Harry Potter, bows to the majestic animal, and it nods its head, much to Victor's surprise. She then approaches it carefully, holding out her hand, and when she gets close enough it thrusts its head forward, but to request a petting, not to bite. She scratches at its cheek, and it closes its eyes in obvious pleasure.

Victor is flabbergasted, but he recovers quickly and asks if she would like a ride. Though hesitant at first, she quickly ascents. Victor mounts her in front, climbs on behind her, and the hippogriff takes off, soaring out over the pink-marble city. It circles the palace complex several times, gaining altitude, and once Differel sees Sunny out on a balcony, sunning herself. They exchange waves as Eile comes out to join her. The hippogriff widens its path to encompass the whole city, then it turns off and soars out over woodland, that merges with the clouds, and then the clouds dissipate and they are flying over the Cerenarian Strait. The hippogriff drops down closer to the water, and they fly lazily back and forth, past ships and over sea monsters. It drops lower still, skimming the water with its front claws as dolphins cavort around it like they were following the prow of a ship. It then rises up, swings around in a wide arc, and heads back for Serannian. As they approach, the city stands out starkly against the cloud bank, the early afternoon sun gleaming off the buildings. However, instead of landing back at its stable, the hippogriff lands in a clearing in the woods.

Victor explains that after an exertion such as this, it's hungry and needs to eat. They dismount and it immediately trots off into the woods. As Differel watches, Victor comes up behind her and begins touching and caressing her on the shoulders, neck, and face. She surrenders herself to it at first, but then pulls away. Victor apologizes, and Differel explains she doesn't believe this is a good idea. Whether she lives or dies, she'll be gone soon and they will never see each other again. It wouldn't do either of them any good to restart a relationship they cannot continue. He agrees, and they walk back towards the city. But they hold hands as they do.

As Eile and Sunny sunbathe on the balcony, they chat about Differel and Victor. They knew she had once been married, but she wouldn't talk about it. Besides, she didnot strike them as the marrying type. Her outburst had also worried them, but seeing her with him on the back of that hippogriff gladdened them. They wonder if this might be the start of something new and special. Medb joins them, which piques Eile, but she endures it. Medb tells them Kuranes has invited them all to dinner, where a report will be given on the sages' research. However, she is not sanguine about their chances of success. Though they have access to a cyclopean library and a huge mound of intelligence data, there are areas beyond their purview. As such, to hedge their bets, she has already sent Crèmedevoyager to Ulthar to question Mephitis and Aislinn Síle about it. Hopefully they will be able to supply some answers.

The Girls arrive in the private dining room a bit early and find Differel and Victor have arrived ahead of them. They seem to be on intimate terms, and Differel appears to be glowing, which prompts Sunny to poke Eile in the ribs with her elbow and give her a knowing smile. However, Eile isn't as sure they have been intimate in that way. In any event, further speculation is interrupted when Medb and Kuranes arrive, and soon everyone is present, including Ubasti, Kami, and Ssas'sashu'ra, who seem uncomfortable. The girls take charge of them and help them adjust. They have no problem with eating human food, though they are unfamiliar with some utensils, and having no lips, Ssas'sashu'ra might find certain foods difficult. The meal is a twelve course affair: an appetizer, soup, some kind of shellfish, pasta, a sorbet, squab, mushrooms, beef, vegetables, salad, cheese, and pudding, accompanied by a Madeira Sercial, a Riesling, a Sauvignon Blanc, a Chianti, a Burgundy, a dry sherry, a Marsala, and a port. The dinner is purely social; Kuranes enjoys having good company as it reminds him of his days as a member of the landed gentry.

Afterwards, they retire to a sitting room, for coffee, brandy, and cigars, though those who smoke stay well away from the Girls in deference to their fastidiousness. Kuranes reports that his sages have been unable to discover anything definite, though there are references to a fungus called morbidia. However, almost nothing is known about it. Medb then reports what Crème told her upon his return. According to Mephitis, morbidun is a drug that allows a Dreamer to alter his form. It is distilled from the morbidia fungus. According to what Aislinn has learned from her interviews with the Zoogs, morbidia grows in the Underworld, in one of the vales in the Peaks of Thok. There are only two known ways into the Underworld: down the staircase under the city of Sarkomand in the North, and through the stone slab in the Enchanted Woods to descend the Tower of Koth into the City of the Gugs. Both are dangerous, but the latter is the safer route, and the shortest to the mountains.

A debate rages over what is the best course of action, with some advising a direct confrontation with the Fomorians in Hazuth-Kleg, and the rest advocating disrupting their plan by shutting down morbidun production. The latter has two major disadvantages. The first is that the Peaks of Thok are an exceedingly dangerous place, while the second is that, not knowing which of the myriad vales is the right one, they could spend centuries searching and never find it. Medb, however, has been to the Underworld a few times before, and she is confident they can handle the dangers, with some judicious preparation and a little prudence.

Plus, she believes she knows someone who could help, an ancient ghoul wizard that lives near the Vale of Pnath. He probably knows where to find morbidia. Ultimately, the debate ends when Differel declares that she plans to go to the Underworld, alone if need be, and the Girls state they will go with her. Kuranes says that one way or another, a confrontation with the Fomorians is inevitable, and he plans to call for a general mobilization. Victor is not yet ready to commit Karchedonian forces, but he agrees to send a message back to the city-state to have them prepare, just in case the Fomorians or Moonbeasts, or even this foreign power, tries to make a preemptive strike.

Unfortunately, it will take at least a day to mobilize, even if Kuranes comes with just his command barge and few support craft. Differel is impatient to get started - she is running out of time - but it will take two days to get back to Ulthar on foot, whereas a cloud barge can make it in one. Then Victor says he can fly her and the girls there on the hippogriff in less than six hours. When she asks if it can carry that many people, he declares with some pride that it can carry four full-grown men, so it should be able to carry a man, a woman, and two girls. Medb is in favor of them going ahead. There are preparations that need to be made there before they descend into the Underworld, and this way they can be ready to go when the rest of them arrive. Besides, it will keep Differel occupied.

With the basic plan agreed to, they retire for the evening. Victor shows Differel to her suite, but when he makes to leave, she halts him with a hand on his shoulder. She asks him to stay. He is reluctant, reminding her that she felt it wasn't a good idea. She responds, "I don't care. I've missed you,... I need you." He looks at her for a few moments, then closes the door. Saying, "I've missed you, too," he takes her in his arms and they kiss.