Find Clarity
NOTE: I don't like this chapter at all. It has a few good ideas, but will almost certainly be scrapped, or at the very least massively rewritten. I'm including it just in the interest of writing with the door open. Consider this an outtake.
Head south...that was roughly all Kaelyn had to go on. She went downstairs to discuss her dream with Master Colm, and was somewhat surprised at his reaction.
“Kaelyn dear, do you think maybe you're just imagining that you've seen Daisy? Do you think that an upset imagination might have led to that dream?”
“Well, yes, very much so, Master Colm. Of course that's what I think. But... I just want it to be real. I want to know that Daisy is physically okay, although I guess we didn't learn much about her situation we didn't already know. However, even if the dream was just... My mind telling me things, a cave seems like the most likely place for Brant to have gone, doesn't it?”
“That's perhaps so.” Colm said, watching Kaelyn with steady eyes.
“So, given that I don't really have any other destination, I should find out where the wizards think the earlier disturbance was, and then look for caves in that direction.” Kaelyn said. For some reason she was feeling ever so slightly judged.
“Well, in the absence of any other plan, I think I'll go forward with finding any cave in that area.” Kaelyn looked at Colm and wondered why she was suddenly feeling so attacked.
“I think that seems like a Decent choice. Think about the things you've been taught when you were working with others, when you were working here.”
“Of course,” Kaelyn said.
She walked outside, heading south, feeling unsettled after that conversation. She wasn't sure why Master Colm seemed disappointed, and she didn't like the feeling. Still, she couldn't deny her dream, the reality of it, the feeling of it. She wanted to just ask Colm what he would do, but resisted. This felt important, but she had to do it alone.
Right now Kaelyn was desperate for answers. She'd been to the wizards and that had helped. She had her own master and he was helping. She wished Strand had a Druid enclave, or even a Feywild nearby, both of those traditions put more stock by dreams than her own art, and she would be willing to chance a deal with the Fey if it got Daisy out of Brant's hands. At least the fey were honest. Tricky, but honest.
But there weren't any others. She thought about what she knew about non-healing spells. It wasn't a ton. She was a good healer, and a quick study, through, and as Colm had pointed out, healing magic shared a lot with Nature magic.
That runner had been enchanted by a druid, though, hadn't it? Perhaps she could find out where the merchant got his runners and learn more about the process that way. Of course, she only had the word of Daisy-in-a-dream to go off, but it made sense that the runner that had mysteriously disappeared had done so along with the apprentice that mysteriously disappeared.
Kaelyn was going in circles, mentally. She needed clarity.