Tales of Belonging

Chapter 8: Strange Bedfellows

"You know magic?!" Percy was pacing back and forth. He didn't sound that he was pleased in the slightest.

"You know magic!!" Scanlan smiled seeming completely ecstatic. He was now right next to Jessica. "I knew you were one of us. Are you good with music?"

"Can you help heal Grog?" Keyleth looked over at Jessica.

Jessica was looking at her hands. She hadn't spoken to anyone. Blue lightning had definitely shot out of her hand. Percy had seen her do it. A strange blue symbol had most certainly appeared. Though now it was no where to be seen. She couldn't explain how she done it, but she had done it. It hadn't happened in...well a while. She supposed it was due to the fact...she wasn't being subjected to...She began to shake on the verge of tears.

"Hey." Vax gently laid a hand on Jessica's shoulder. His voice was steady and grounding.

"I didn't know if I could do...whatever I did...I don't know if I can help Grog." Jessica shook her head, tears down her cheeks.

"Its ok. We'll figure this out. Are you ok?" Vax kept his voice steadily calm, assuring.

"SHE CAN DO MAGIC!" Both of Percy's hand gestured to her. "MAGIC. AS IN SHE CAN FIGHT!"

"Yes." Vax'ildan looked over at Percy. "And you can obviously see the reaction that this is causing. Lay off it for a moment." Both of them stared at each other intently. The tension thick in the air, both to stubborn to back down.

"Quick! Someone draw a dick on Grog's face!!" Scanlan pointed down to Grog. Jessica smiled as Scanlan gave her a wink, he had drawn the attention off her. For now.

"Ok Bud. It's time to wake up now." Vex tried to wake Grog up gently but when that didn't work, she slapped him harder. And when that slap didn't work, Keyleth gave him a slap on the other cheek. And that was hardly effective either.

Percy knelt down next to Vex, right across from Jessica. "Let me see." Percy looked him up and down several times through narrowing eyes. "Well it isn't physical damage. He's barely taken any of that."

"Hmmm." Tiberius now stood over Percy's shoulder. "It's clear that when that brain-thing hit Grog with his zapper-thing that it rendered him unconscious. I would assume that it is a magical creature just based on the attack alone."

"No shit." Vex muttered under her breath.

"I'm sorry what did you say?" Tiberius looked over at Vex.

"She said No Shit." Scanlan said lough enough for the whole cavern to hear.

"Shh." Vax shushed him.

"I might..." Keyleth rubbed the back of her neck. "I might have something that could wake Grog up. I'd have to look it up in my book. It could take a few hours." She sighed and looked down at the ground.

Vex got up. "I'm going to investigate that duergar then." And with that, she walked off.

Vax gave an apologetic smile to Jessica and helped her up. The pair followed Vex, Percy fell in step behind them.

The duergar, from what Jessica could tell, was a female. She was bald from what Jessica could tell. She had a nasty, pale, sunken face; clouded eyes with no visible pupils; and her teeth were yellow, gnarled, and sharp. Vax gave Jessica's hand a squeeze before he walked over to the duergar, placing his dagger against her throat.

However, the harder they party pressed, the more stubborn the duergar became. The duergar looked over at Grog and then spat. "Bury your dead weight." That seemed to temp Vax more as Jessica saw him push the blade slightly deeper.