Word: embroil

 

embroil

\ em-BROIL \  , verb;

1. to bring into discord or conflict; involve in contention or strife.

2. to throw into confusion; complicate.

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                Grena walked into the tavern and looked around.  Scanning the crowded room for her companions was easy.  She just had to look for the biggest man around, and, nine times out of ten, it was Caruss.  This time was no different.  She spotted the large warrior from across the room, even with the large number of patrons occupying the dining area. 

She made her way through the crowd until she got a better view of who was sitting at the table with him.  She was expecting two people.  There were four.  Her eye twitched when she saw Lyra.  She didn’t know why, the archer rubbed her the wrong way, she just did.  The fourth looked oddly familiar, a young girl who looked extremely uncomfortable in the tight cap she wore. 

                Caruss and Lyra were talking about something or other.  Grena didn’t particularly care about the topic.   Lars sat nursing a pint of ale and looking like he wanted to start a bar fight as an excuse to rip her throat out. The girl was fidgeting in her chair and looked like she very much wanted to remove the cap.  That is, until she turned suddenly to face her and pointed excitedly in her direction.  She said something to the others, but Grena couldn’t hear what. 

                Caruss rose from his seat and went over to her.  He must have wanted to say a few things to her before she reached the group.

                “So, how was Esline?”  He asked.

                “Productive.”  Grena said.  “Two questions; who’s the girl, and why is Lyra still with you?”

                “Lyra’s here for the girl’s sake, I think.  Plus, I think Lars would have a fit if she left.  As for the girl, you remember that magically transformed rabbit we met a few months back?”

                “Vaguely.”  Greana thought back and recalled the incident.  Then she connected the dots.  “Wait, you mean that’s…”

                “Mm mh.”

                “Ok, so that’s the rabbit girl, but why’s she here?”

                “We ran into her a few days before you sent you rendezvous signal.  Lyra took to her, and she took to Lars for whatever reason.  She might be handy to have around.  Apparently, she can smell magic.”  Caruss said.  Grena stifled a chuckle at the thought that the rabbit girl would grow attached to the one person who would try and kill her at every opportunity.  That, and the memory of how she had given Lars the run around on their first encounter.

                “Well that certainly explains why my traps didn’t work.”  She muttered.

                Caruss made his way back to the table with Grena following closely.  He got a spare chair for her, which she accepted.  As soon as she sat down, the rabbit girl was right next to her, staring at the small golden bottle she wore tucked under her robes.  Her small nose sniffed at the air. 

                “Magic lady’s got something fun.”  She said happily before returning to Lyra’s side.

                “Magic lady?”  Grena asked.

                “She doesn’t really know names too well yet.” Lyra said.  “She’s still learning her own.”

                “She has a name?”

                “We call her Usagi.  It means rabbit in an Eastern language.  I figured it was appropriate, considering.”

                “Ah.”

                “So, I guess it went well?”  Caruss asked.

                “Very well.  The masters were able to re-enchant the bottle according to my ideas.  I was even allowed to be the first to use it.”

                “So, what, you have god powers now?”  Lars asked.  The idea seemed to make him perk up pretty quick.

                “Kind of.  I’ve been given two spells by Inris himself, but for now I’m only borrowing them.”

                “What spells?”

                “The first is a healing spell.”

                “Doesn’t that already exist?”  Lyra asked.

                “Yes, but only for priests of Lethon, or those who are willing to sacrifice their own life.  With this spell, I can heal with normal magical power.”

                “So we have a healer now.”  Lars said, getting very excited at that.  “Oh that’s perfect.  I’ve always wanted one of those.”

                “And the reason we haven’t is because you’d treat it like a slave instead of an actual person.”  Caruss said dully. 

                “T-that’s not true!”  Lars exclaimed.  “Er, so, what else did you get?”  He continued, aiming to change the subject.

                “A spell to make specters.”  She said, very proud of that.  The others looked at her blankly.  She had the remind herself they didn’t know what that was.  “Ok, so you all know what ghosts are, right?  Well, a specter is an upgrade of that.  I can give it any personality I want, and even have it cast spells I know.”

                “So, a healer and a ghoster now.  Lucky you.”  Caruss said.

                “Wait, so spellslingers make ghosts?”  Lyra asked, “I thought they were the souls of the dead made to wander.”

                “Those are spirits.  Ghosts are more like golems that use the caster’s mind and magic as materials.  I can tell you all about it later.  For now, I have our next job.”

                “Oh?”  Caruss asked.

                “Yup.  Came from the same places as my new spells.”

                “Well, no turning down a job from a god then.”  Lars said, “What’re we doing?”

                “Remember the guy who sent us to get the bottle in the first place?”

                “Yeah.  Guy gave me the creeps.”  Lars said.  Both Caruss and Lyra nodded in agreement.

                “Well, he’s doing some weird stuff with magic.  We’ve got to stop him.  Of course, in this case that really means just destroying whatever experiments he’s carrying out.  Whatever happens to him isn’t important.”

                “What’s he doing that the gods asked you to do this?”  Lyra asked.  Greana opened her mouth to speak, but soon closed it in thought.

                “You know, I’m not really sure.  Inris was kind of fuzzy on the details.  I’m sure it’s nothing good though.  You know, chaos, disorder, panic, and all that stuff.  Maybe even start a magic war or something, I don’t know.”

                “So, same-old-same-old.”  Caruss said with a small grin.

                “Pretty much.” Grena replied.

                “What’s the reward?  I mean, you got your fancy new spells, but what about the rest of us?”  Lars asked.

                “Well, first of all, the spells are a down payment.  Right now I need the bottle to cast them.  Once we finish this, I’ll have them permanently.  Also, right now, only I can access the powers in the bottle.  But, once the job’s done, I can give to anyone I want.  I was thinking you or Caruss would be good choices to start with.”  She said.  Lars thought about that for a moment.

                “Ok, yeah.  That sounds good.”  He said quickly. 

                “Alright, so we have a job.  Any ideas on carrying it out?”  Caruss asked.  “It’s not like we can just walk into his house.”

                “Why not?”  Lyra said, “He hired you all, and me before that.  As far as he knows, it took us longer than anticipated, but we finished the job and coming to get the reward.  All we need is someone to make a copy of the bottle and we’re golden.  Do you know something like that?”  She looked at Greana when she asked.

                “Can’t say I do, no.  But duplication isn’t an uncommon spell.  There should be someone around here that can do that.  It’s once we’re in, I can probably take care of our target with the bottle’s power.  It’s finding the experiments that’ll be a problem.”

                “Oh, me, me!”  Usagi exclaimed.  She looked like she wanted to jump up out of the chair she was in.  “I can do it! I can do it!” 

                “Well then, looks like we’ve got a plan.”  Caruss said.  “When do we start?”

                “Whenever you’re all ready.  The sooner the better, I think.”  Grena said.  She was already going through things she could do to really make life difficult for her ‘employer’.  It would be a great chance to try out her new spells, as well as causing a commotion for a nobleman.  This was going to be fun.

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Another long stretch since we've seen these guys.  And it'll probably be another long stretch for the next one.  I can be so mean to you all, can't I? That aside, I'm not really sure how well I stuck to the word in this case.  Well, they're talking about entering into conflict with someone, so it's all good, right?