M.D.Syl

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Chapter 128 colorless

Chapter 128 All Orcs Must die!

There’s no life without mistakes.
You shouldn’t spend your life regretting your mistakes.
Your mistakes are parts of who you are.
Build upon them and better your life.

Lokamesh, Father of Mortal Kind.

{28} Brigit (August) the 10th

I stare dumbfounded at the bloody pond marred with guts and broken bones everything that remains of the orc. Yes, I wanted to kill her, but I expected the blood particles out of my throat, not whatever the snake this was.

“Was that a good idea?” Kolag’s echoing voice comes from behind me, undisturbed by the out worldly nature of my bloodline magic.

I look around. To my relief, all of the orcs have passed out by now, or are too busy with their so called ‘sheep’. In my rage I forgot to check for witnesses before committing the act. The large bonfire in the middle have different kinds of animals and human bones piled up on it. The charred human skull of a child stands out to me in a way I cannot ignore.

This is all my fault…

No point in guilt tripping myself, what can I do to make it better right now? I’ll have to save whoever I can save. “I’m going to gather the slaves and lead them out of here… wait for my signal, then take your helmet off. The orcs will want to kill you, they won’t be able to resist such a strong prey… Kolag? I want all of these orcs dead!” They betrayed Balgrum, they betrayed me when they attacked my city, and they’re impossible to control. It’s best if they’re gone!

“It’ll be done, even if I have to die for it!”

I shake my head. “No, I don’t want you to die for it. Come back alive, ok? I’ll be waiting for you near the city’s south gate.”

“I… I’ll do my best…” his echoing voice doesn’t sound so sure of himself.

I step forward. “Let’s go.”

I’ll come back and help him fight the orcs once I free my people… I walk down between the tents and make my way to the slaves’ pens at the edge of the camp. I do my best not to think about the people who accommodates the orcs for the night. I can hear their cries and screams coming from the leathery huts, I just signed their death sentence. I can’t save everyone, focus on saving whoever I can save…

Two orc guards stand near a wooden fence door. Behind it, a mass of people cramped in a small fenced section. Although most of them are asleep, the buzz from their quiet conversations is loud enough.

“Shaman.” One of the orcs greets me with a nod.

I place my hand on his chest, looking up at his face. His ember eyes opens wider before I incant my spell. “Myrsha ritsa.” <Gravity repulse.> his chest caves in, he stumbles back and collapses with a sickening nose of bones crunching flesh.

The second orc reaches for his axe, “Felul felik” <Wind airblade> my wind blade tears his neck open. He makes a step or two forward, clutching his throat in a desperate attempt to stop the blood from pouring out, then falls to his knees with a choked gurgle. He ends up with his head in the bloodied grass, empty stare toward the night sky.

I untie the ropes that hold the fence doors closed. “Revissor.” <Light> A ball of light appears above my hand.

The light of my magic reveals hundreds of people piled on a straw mat. Many of them sleep on top of each other, and I even notice that the children are given place on top. Some of them are tied up to wooden poles with roughly made ropes, some of their raw wounds are too fresh to have been inflicted yesterday. They’re all dirty, covered with grime and blood, their clothes are torn, and many of them have inflamed scars on their faces.

At the end, I’ve made the same mistakes as Luard… Kolag was right, I never cared about them as human beings… only as score for the hag’s twisted game… I distanced myself because their religion disturbs me, it made it easier to see them as just numbers instead of people... I need ten thousand souls under my command… ten thousand… how am I going to get that now? Doesn’t matter! My humanity comes first! Not putting hundreds of people in the same position I was a few years ago comes first! It’s one thing not to help people who are enslaved by others, another to enslave them myself. I will never cross this line!

I pick one of the orcs’ axes and cut through the ropes of the first group of slaves. “Take the axes and free everyone, we’re leaving!”

The people free each other, slowly, and flow out of the pen without any order. A familiar beefy middle-aged woman with dirty blond hair passes by and spits on my face. I catch her head with a ‘Minor Telekinesis,’ and force her to look at me. “You hate me, don’t you?”

“Ya!” the woman look at me with a pair of blue stubborn eyes.

“Did you also hate King Luard?”

“Ya ye and all yar sorcerers are the same!”

“But you wouldn’t spit in his face, correct?”

She grimaces. Good! Feel bad! I just saved your stupid life you dumb bitch! I just lost a whole army of orcs for your miserable hides! And all I get in return is hatred and blind worship of a stupid religion! I’m tired of it, if I can’t be loved by my people I’ll be feared by them!

“Why wouldn’t you spit in his face?” I tap my lower lip wondering aloud. “Oh I know why! He’d shove a spear up your ass and stake you outside the city with a sign that says ‘I spit on the King,’ wouldn’t he? Do you want me to do the same?”

“No, Your Grace…”

Oh I’m your grace now?! How nice of you to address me as your worshiped idol… I’m not an idol! I’m a person! I don’t want to be worshiped. I’ve freed you from a tyrant, I made sure you all have jobs, gave the lawmaker position to someone sensible like Kolag, and all I get in return is fanatics and idiots. Even now, I’m saving your very lives. I’ve just lost an army of orcs willing to serve my purposes, in order to save your sorry hides! I’m here freeing you by myself on foot, not sending anyone else in my stead to potentially die to these orcs! And all I get in return, is someone spitting in my face. I thought you people worshiped sorcerers… but you also hate them deep inside, don’t you? Why am I not surprised... mages aren't exactly stellar examples of altruism... and I guess the fact I was willing to enslave them turned them on me entirely...

“C-can I go your grace?”

I let her head go with a wince. I wave my hand dismissingly and let her joined the rest, feeling terrible with myself. Did I really have to do this?

I’m tired of being unappreciated by them… I’m tired of being worshiped by them! They don’t see me as a human, they see me as a force of nature to worship or hate. It’s frustrating… I’m a human being and I’m allowed to snap sometimes… I haven’t killed them for it… I am allowed to be angry! I'm not perfect! But they do too… I nearly handed them over to the orcs… and I don't see them as humans either... I see them as a number for the hag's stupid trials... fuck the hag, fuck her trials!

The woman is still standing there. “I was there the day ye freed us from Luard’s dungeon, Your Grace. Ye had me undying loyalty.”

I narrow my eyes at her.

“My husband and son died for ye in the war against Queen Phoebe.” She takes a deep breath. “And after all of that, ye wanted to sell us to these savages because the death cleric said so?! If not for the Lord Sir Kolag taking a stand, we be raped by these savages, same way King Luard’s monsters did it. No, worse. Listen!” She gestures at the camp and the screams of the women in the orcs’ camp. There are even men who scream.

I'm no better than Luard...

The woman continues. “Ye did much for us, My Queen. We did much for ye in return. Selling us away on the word of a Death Cleric…”

“What’s your name?”

“I- Aisha your grace. Ye can give me a fancy execution if ye want, but please make sure my daughters are taken care of.”

“You’re right. And Kolag was right. I made a mistake. It’s why I’m here now, freeing you and doing my best to right my mistake. Now let’s get out of here before the rest of the orcs wake up and notice something is amiss.”

She gapes for a moment, then nods and moves with the rest.

"I also want you as my advisor," I call after her. "To tell me what the people needs that I'm not aware of. The ones that were elected are clearly ineffective."

She turns and bows awkwardly, then joins the stream of people that circles around the camp.

An hour later, I circle the camp, sticking close to the inner side of the wall. The people follow me in the long way to the gate, doing their best to stay quiet. But with such a large group of people I know it’s impossible to be completely silent, it’s only a matter of time before someone notices us.

We reach the gate. Both orcish guards at the gate are asleep, and they do not notice our approach. I slice their napes with silent wind blades and gesture to the escaped slaves to run toward the city.

“Ti-a’ark! Yoma’ari ga’akash!” <Wolves! Sheep ____!> I hear the shouts from within the camp. Dozens of orcs make their way toward the camp’s gate, raising axes and spears with bloodshot eyes.

“Run!” I shout to the crowd of people who push each other through the gates. “Kolag! Now!” I scream from the top of my lungs as I command my light-ball forward. Both to shed light on the orcs, and blind them as they approach.

They cover their eyes and emerge from between the sea of tents. I count about thirty of them. Three meters tall orcs who are no longer on my side. No. Now they're here to enslave my people, and I'm the only thing that stands between them and their sheep. They're also battle ready, not a surprise kill like the five orcs I've already murdered today.

These orcs hunt magical beasts for a living, and I'll have to fight for my life if I want to survive...

The orcs approach like an angry mob, waving spears and axes up high in the air. "Ti-a'ark!" <We wolves!> "Yomh’ak no ria’arikal potasi!" <Honorless death to traitor shaman!> Half of them charge, while the other half stand back, throwing javelins at me.

I take out rose petals and chant swiftly as they approach. "Nikit fukdi-ai, ritsa!" <Focus hand-mine, repulse!> My voice echoes unnaturally, purple smoke puffs around my waist and an indigo speck of light circles my wrist. Other than my echoing chant, there's no other noise, but the charging group of orcs are sent flying along with most of the thrown spears as if an invisible boulder hit them all violently. They land sprawled and spread. I hear a few bones breaking with loud cracks at the back.

The second group of javelin throwers spread, avoiding clustering like the first group. Four charge me directly. Eight circle around their mass of tents, four from each side, and four stay behind to throw more javelins. Sixteen total, and I don't have a lot of time before the rest of them recover.

“Nimuwal!” <water boundless!> I aim my water jet at the ground in front of me, creating shallow water ponds in the way of the middle group who have the shortest distance. “Rial aluwe ri!” <Cold surface freeze!> I freeze the pond. The sudden change to ice trips the front pair of the charging orcs who fall forward on their faces. The second pair who can't hold their charge slips on the ice, waving their hands wildly in the air as they skate forward before tripping on the bodies of their friends.

They fall in a heap of live bodies, hitting the ice with loud cracks and thuds. “Rinim rill!” <Ice sharp!> An empowered set of patterns, and a pair of bloodied icy spears protrude from the orcs’ abdomens, each impaling two of them on the icy ground.

The javelin group throw their spears at me, soon joined by the first group who recovered already. “Myrsha samir!” <Gravity protects!> The mana drains through my forehead forming an orange kinetic bubble. I hear the screams behind me. Some of these spears aren’t aimed at me, they’re aimed at the people. I stretch my spell and form a wider shield, channeling extended patterns to prolong it. However, the mass of people behind me is larger than what my magic can protect.

The barrage of javelins incites panic, people rush to get out through the gate that isn’t wide enough.

And it also incites my rage. So much for honor with these orcs. They speak of honor and then attack unarmed people! “Ritsa!” <Repulse!> I send five more spears flying off their original trajectory. “Rinim ril!” <ice spike!> Pieces of the frozen pond turn into icy spikes. “Shariss!” <fly!> I stomp the ice on my side, mana coursing through my right leg, and the spikes launch themselves into the orcs. While some of these spikes break on their furs and skin or simply fall down after bruising the orcs, a single orc digs one of the icicles out of his abdomen. He looks at the bloody ice shard, baffled, then collapses.

“Fotyr folo!” <Fire fly!> A series of three flashing firebolts streak toward the orcs. Their fur clothes are set alight, they fall to the ground, rolling around in order to put the fire out. “Rod’ena.” <Vines.> The mana drain through my lower abdomen and legs into the ground. Thin vines grow around the three orcs, keeping them restrained against the ground, preventing their movement. They scream and thrash around as the fire spreads mostly uninterrupted.

The flanking orcs emerges from both sides at once. I wish I was more adept at earth magic, this would’ve been much easier if I could raise stone walls from the ground. “Kushjak!” <Oil!> I create an oily puddle on the left side. “Felul.” <Wind.> I cast an amplified breeze to my right at the same time. The strong wind blows in the face of the orcs, and the spears they attempt to throw divert from their path.

The four orcs on my left charge through my—still forming—oily puddle, waving their axes above their heads. One of them throws a spear in my direction.

My eyes open wide, I know I can’t dodge this. The spear halts a millimeter near my abdomen, it hovers and drops to the ground thanks to my magical leather armor. The armor the orcs made for me… The irony…

“Folo fotyr!” <Flying fire!> I scream and a cone of roaring flames exhales from my mouth, setting the puddle of oil ablaze. The orcs to my left are all set alight, screaming and flailing around blindly as they burn alive. The wave of heat makes it hard to breathe, and the all too familiar foul stench of burning flesh enters my nostrils, taking me back to the time I still feared Adir back in the Sapphire Tower.

I back off from the collapsing orcs on my left, trying to ignore the smell and heat. I turn to the four orcs who approach me from the right. They are now too close for anything but an instant defense. “Myrsha samir!” <Gravity protects!> I shout before a pair of hand held spears reach me. I weave the red bubble, not the orange, and the spears slow down instead of being deflected.

I hold the shafts near the tips and spread the spears with my hands. I take a quick step forward between the spears, and place my hands on the orcs’ chests. “Myrsha ritsa!” <Gravity repulse!> Holes form in their chests, showering me with gore.

Another screaming orc charges at me with her axe waved high up in the air. “Hod myrsha.” <Ground pull.> she falls head first into the bloodied grass.

Before I manage to finish her off, the last orc throws his spear at me from less than two meters away. I gasp. The spear pushes softly against my ribs, bending the scaled armor inward just a little. It then falls to the ground.

My armor saves my life again. As long as they don’t hit my head… ENOUGH CANTRIPS! Furious, I put my hand in my pouch. I grab a handful of my petals and point at him with my free hand. I weave my patterns, mana pulsing through my necklace and forehead. “Myrsha! Lu myrsha zoro!” <Gravity! Don’t pull him!>

My voice echoes unnaturally and the wind picks up. A puff of purplish smoke appears at my waist, a speck of purple light darts out of the amethyst mist and circles him. An attempted step makes him stumble, a second later and he floats in the air, weightless. “Ti-a’ark!” <We wolves!> He yells, reaching for another spear while flailing in the air.

“Felul.” <Wind.> I utter, and the wind carries him upward as if he’s a mere leaf.

“Ik ria’arikal potasi!” <You traitor shaman!> The orc on the ground yells as she pounces at me. I try to dodge, but her swiping arm drags me with her to the ground. She brings her axe to my neck and I attach my left hand to her wrist.

It’s not about a struggle of strength, she would win if it was. “Myrsha ritsa!” <Gravity repulse!> the blast turns her hand into minced meat and bones, her bone-made axe leave a shallow cut on my chin as it gets violently shoved to the side.

She grabs my left wrist with her healthy hand, and pins my right hand under her body between us. She slams her head into mine, and the world turns into sheer white pain.

“Myrsha Ritsa!” <Gravity repulse!> I channel my mana through my right hand, blasting her abdomen. The orc groans in pain, I can feel her warm inner organs spilling on my hand and body. She slams her head into me again, and I'm tasting blood and broken teeth, face throbbing with pain.

I move my right hand up inside her body until I touch something solid and squishy, I clutch it. “Myrsha ritsa!” <Gravity repulse!>

She collapses on top of me, lifeless.

“̴̲̩͓̱͚̻̘̻͖͊͑̄̎̿̾͆G̵̛̝̗͇̦̫̫̒̀̕ǎ̴̦͓̲̦̙̗̈́̓͊̆̚ͅY̷̨̺̜͇̳̞̣̒͋̐̌͜͝ȃ̸̟͍̞̟͑̏̾̿̌̿͂̑̇̂͐͝Ḧ̴̜̮̮̜́̾͊̈́̋̔̄͆̈́̊̌̕ẏ̴̼͕̲͚̫̥̯̙̋̈͑͌̂͝Â̷̟̮̫̹͖̖̮̪͇͔͖̫h̸̳̯̝̰̼̍͂̆̑͊̆̈́͜Y̸̥̟͍̖̎͜ä̵̢̜̟̠̰͕͚̘̠̠́̇̆̍͒̑̉̔͝͠H̷̠̹̦̿̅͑̂͛̈̐͌͒̉y̸̙̹̓̾̐̑̋̓̿̀̓̑̚͝͝͝Ă̷̖̔͗͆͂̄̈͊͊̔̈́̈̏́͘ḧ̸̡̝̖̦̟̬̮̘̱̫̤̼̿̽̕̚̕!̷̟̰́͑͛̀͑̾͘͝͝͝ͅ ̴͙͍͉̖̹̪̘̠͎̤͊͐̄͗K̸̡̪͖̰̰̹̝̬͇͇̤̻̙̬̈́̓̈́̀̾̀̓̇͗̒̚̚͝A̴̢̘͆͐̈̂̍̈́̄̕͝R̴̨̗͓̦̻̣͚̜͈͓͖̃̒̄̍͛̄̈́͋͂͆̕͝Ì̸̢̢̛̮̮͉̰̺̯̫̭̹̗̖̣́Ḟ̵̨̰̜͍̩̙͛̽̐̒̈́̃͑̏͗̀́͠F̴̨̛̙̱̜̜̯͙̘̟̪͈̌̃̀̓͌̏̃͑̊̆͘͠!̵̡̡̨͔̭̦̹͙̹̫͇͙̥̻̇͛͜!̶̟̭̪̙̤͙͌̋̈́̈͑͘͝!̶̨̯̓͛̅͌͛”̶̢̹͔͉͍̗̹̼̠̰̟̥̈́̄͑̄̚

A wild screaming voice comes from deep within the camp. It seems like Kolag was forced to take off his helmet.

I crawl from underneath the dead orc, and stumble as I get up to my feet. I am dizzy, cold, and slightly feverish, I struggle to stay awake. I still haven’t recovered from the blood loss earlier today, and I’ve had way too much fighting for one sleepless night. I am exhausted, and now Kolag turned into a demon. What can go wrong?

The people behind me keep screaming and pushing each other in order to exit the orc camp. I see a young girl—no older than ten—gets pushed down in the crowd, and people’s boots stomp her over in their mad panic to leave this place.

"Stop! You're killing her!" I yell in protest. "Calm down!" My high pitched voice disappears in the chaos, no one notices me, they're all in a rush to get out of this place.

"Tas fiuak!" <Loud badnoise!>

"Calm down! All of you! You're killing a young girl! I’ve had one hell of a rotten night. If you won’t calm down, right now, I’ll kill all of you! March slowly, don’t push, and don’t kill yourselves with your snaking panic! Once you’re out of the gate, run!”

Silence. People stop stumbling over one another in a panic and helps each other to their feet. Some are still pushing, but none of it is as aggressive as it was a few moments ago. I note a man helping the young girl up to her feet, and helps the kid limp forward. At least she didn't have to die over something so stupid...

“Shevi! Shevi! Where are you!” One woman uses the silence to look for her offspring, or maybe it's a lover? Similar calls follow, drowning her voice. At least people help each other up, and they regain some semblance of order.

I watch them all and force an orderly exit for a couple of minutes, but there are hundreds of them, and the gates can only take eight to ten people at a time.

Terrifying sounds of flesh getting ripped apart come from the middle of the camp, followed by orcish battle cries and screams of pain. The most horrifying part is the orcs’ body parts that get thrown away in the darkness, some of them even fall amongst the panicked citizens, causing the eruptions of screams and horror.

Then utter silence.

“̴̢̧̛̰̱͍̱͉̭͔̼̭̦͈̓͊͐̾̒̓̕͝͝A̶̧̧̫͙̘͂̽͛̃̒̀̑͑̃̎̓̕͠͠͠ǎ̴̛̪̬̻͂̌͌̅̀͊͂̆́͘͘͠͝Ă̴̢̗̥͕̝͂͊̽̀̎͆͂͆̓ạ̵͖̱̠̯̗̪̈́͆͒̉͠ͅL̸̟̰̍̈̓͐̌͒͋̾̈́̉̌͆̈́̆͑í̴͚̇̈́̆̽̀̄͂̇͘Ȃ̷̻̲̄͑̆̈͗̒́͌͘͘k̵̨̪̙͙̣̼̈́̂̾̈̏̚͝ ̸̟͊̕Ậ̷͎̗͕̭̬̬̟̦͉̹̹̾l̴̛̅̇̆͝͠ͅĄ̷̱̥̯̥̙͍͈͉̲̖͎́́̀̈́̀̈́̏̕ȧ̷̠̜̣̱͉Ā̷̢͖̮͍͙͉̜̱̩̜̗̬͇̈́͗̆̃̿ͅs̸̫͈̫̬̾̑̐̓̅̇̈̍̐͊̈̅Î̵͓̬͈͔̜̰͚͕̒͗̏͋̍͘ͅf̷̖͉̲̻͉̙̤̯̲̼͍̰̩̯̾̀̉̐͠͝i̴̟̬̋̒̈́͌͊͑̄͒̅̓ ̶̢̥͕̜͔͖͈̦̻̼͔͙̘̖̈́̾̉̓̃̀̿͒́̌̓͌̚͠͠n̵̼̭͙̞̭̏̐͌͊̎̒̉̒͆͗̑́̊̕͠Ơ̶̢̝̘̦̭̯͉̤̱̰̈́̊̋̏̾̊̾̉͛̅͠͝͝ͅờ̷̎͛́͛̀͛͊̓̊̈́͘͠ͅŐ̶̮͚̬̞̘̣̝̫̟̯͉̗̓̓̽̓̽́̂̅̀̈́̑̿ȯ̷̧̢̤̰͍̝̭̥ͅͅś̵̬̻͉̃̉͆́̚T̶̘̹̯͙̹͖͉͔̖̺͋̇̉́̊̓̇̑̏͆̕͝ ̵̡̛͉̲̬̭̹̻̤́̈̔͊̎͘k̸̛̻Ȃ̵̳͙͙̖̼̝̳̳̙̩̠̜͈̌̊̋̌͌̈̿͛̈́̕͘̕͘͝ŝ̵̨̱̤͔͙̥̻̹̜̯͓̎̈́̂̈́̈́̾̒͋̇Ḣ̴̺̜̩̹̳̟͉͕͉̫̲̀̎́́̽̌͐̚͠͝ͅa̸̧̭̳̲͙̝̲̘̮͖̮̎̎̃̅̑͂͒͘͘͝͝Ļ̷̺̗̣̙̬̞̤̰͚̬̝̋͌̿͊͋͆̾͊͘̕a̵̛̭̔̽̾́͊͋̓͑̊̃̾͘̕͝S̷̹̼͉͛̽̾͜͝f̴̡̛̦̲̣̲̯͒̎͋̓́́͊̕͝Ḯ̴̡̨̳̘̘̤̻͍̤̙̞̦̟̱̝!̷̺̩̳̐̈́”̵̛̛͔̣͍̖̞̻͖̲͚̺̋̔̿̓̇͘̕ͅͅ

A nightmarish armor marred in blood shows up between the leathery huts. Eyed tentacles covered in gore swinging wildly out of its collar as it rushes toward us.

“̴̳̮̱̜̰̐͂͆́̈́̍̏̈́͗͂͝͠K̷̨̤̻͌̍̂͜Á̶̧̡̼̱̹̦̩̖̯̝̯̰̼͊̈̂̈́͝͠͝R̷̛̛͚͔̟̺̗̓̾̆̎̌̉̔̄̌ͅI̷̧̧̛̺̲̝̳̘̲̻̹͊̆̐̀̅̀͑̃͛́̃͝F̴̡̫̱͓͍̠̙̭͈̱̼̪̞̅͋̋̀͗͂̈́̏̃͠F̷̡̨̞̲̹͚̺͉̞̦̟̺̂͘͜!̴̡̧̙̮̺͙̳̲̺̘̈́͌̓̑̅͂̀͘͜͝!̶͙̤͎͎̣͔̹̏͐̃͋̀͌́͗̀͆̓͆̋̕͝ͅ!̵̺͍̗̣̰͌͊̔̎̌̌̊̓͆͌̄̍̈́͝͝!̴̨̹̣̻̘͉͙̘̮͖̮̥̙̩̔̈́̊͊̽͌!̸̼̥̑̑́̔̉̓̌͑”̸̨̗̤͕̤͖̈̈́͑͋͋́̇͝͝ ̵̢͖͖͕͌͗̽̏

it shouts in a voice that sounds like the creature is afraid of us and not the other way around.

I find myself kneeling on all fours. I can’t move, my body doesn’t listen to me. I can barely move my head, enough to realize that all the released slaves are on their knees, just like me.

“̵̣͙̂̾̐́̃̑̽͑̊͝N̴̛͚͈̓̉͐̅̈́̌̓̑̽͐͝͠ǒ̸̡̢͎̼͈͇̳͐̃͐͐̇̒͂̄̈͆̚ͅỏ̷̲̭͗̃̔̄́̀̊̚͝ó̷̢̺̗͓͒͋̐̉̐̎͐̔̾̇͘͠ǫ̷̭̱̳͉̼̣͚̠̱̘͆̓͛͋̑̕ͅs̶̗̼͖̣̹͇̺̣͚̺̀̌́͊̍̈́́̓͐͂̽̓̊͘͝ẗ̴͎̯̣͙͖̫̞̦͕́̽̇̃̆̏͋̿́̋̋͘…̶̰͖́̒̓̿̉̀̊͊̄̓͘͘͠”̴̹̜͝

The creature hums as it approaches me. It wraps a slimy tentacle around my head, blocking my view.

I’m not dying here! Not over something this stupid! Out of sheer willpower I manage to move my hand. I hold onto the tentacle and channel my mana. “Myrsha ritsa!” <Gravity repulse!>

I am used to the blast that usually follows, but nothing happens. My mana gets absorbed as if I cast the spell, it gets drained out of my hand into the tentacle. Again! “Myrsha ritsa!” <Gravity repulse!> the mana is absorbed into the demon. The creature lets out a weird hum. “Noooooost…”

A demon is a mage’s worse enemy and our natural predator, they feed on souls and mana itself! The memory of the hag’s words incite panic. My kinetic blast cantrip is nothing more than a cookie to this thing!

*~*~*

Power level: 3rd stage apprentice.
Mana pools status:
Crown-knot: Affinity 10: connected: 1 gem replenished per minute.
Neck-Bridge: Affinity 6: formed: max amount of gems drained per day: 85
Abdomen-storage: Affinity 5: formed: 21 neutral gems. Conversion ratio: elemental : neutral 6:1, neutral : elemental 1:1
Air: Affinity 4: formed: 30 gems
Fire: Affinity 2: formed: 15 gems
Light: Affinity 3: formed: 22/23 gems
Water: Affinity 6: connected: 69 gems
Earth: Affinity 1: formed: 7 gems
Wood: Affinity 2: formed: 15 gems
Gravity: Affinity 9: connected: 93/104 gems

Cantrip known:
Air: Shavi’s Breeze, Shavi’s Sword. Shavi’s Hair Dryer, Aria’s Enhanced Hearing. Aria’s Sonic Scream. Aria's Increased Voice.
Fire: Nuriss’ Flame. Effrat’s Firefly, Effrat’s Fire Breath. Sorladika's Lesser Heating. Nuriss’ Ignite. Oniga's Soap Creation.
Light: Noxi’s Light. Lako’s Blinding Light. Rika’s energy hand.
Water: Water Evocation, Water to Ice, Ice to Water, Water to Vapor, Vapor to Water, Mayan’s Icy Spike, Ayla’s Water Jet. Ayla’s instant freeze. Ayla's Flowing Shield. Ayla’s Freezing Vapors. Hot Water Conjuration. Boiling Waterjet.
Earth: Alice’s Oil Summoning, Reiko’s Acid Spray. Alf's Copper Bolt
Wood: Arigor’s Lesser Vines. Kolosu’s Vegetable Summoning.
Gravity: Lumina’s Kinetic Burstm. Tukado’s Repulse. Tukado’s Lesser Shield IIa. Imari’s Minor Telekinesism. Imari’s Jump. Leo’s Pull. Leo’s Grounding. Alino’s Light Body. Alino’s Heavy Body. Alino's Orbiter.

Transmutation: Oniga's Laundry.

Spells known:
Light: Rika's Electric Channelb1
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb1x2. Tukado's Pushb1x3. Tukado’s defense IIIb1x4. Imari’s Lesser Flightb2.

Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison. Brigit’s Skin Restoration.

(Little letters by spell sides: m=mastered. a=advanced. b=bound spell, number near the b is how many gems of the mana pool binding the said spell takes.)

Focus capability: 20 patterns.

Social status: The Queen of Red Cedar City. Inara, Daughter of Mysteries. Apprentice to the Maven of Mysteries. Sorceress.

Personal Wealth: 1465 Magic Gems. 1420 Golden Peas, 45 Silver Scales, 32 Copper Bits.

Personal Items:
Magical necklace. Contains 100 gems of general mana, can be drained like a mana pool. It’ll recharge by itself at the rate of five gems an hour.
1 potion of lightning body.
1 potion of mana, medium grade.
1 potions of Lesser Healing.
2 potions of Pain Tolerance.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keeps the pouches’ content fresh. Each pouch may contain 10g of petals or six potion flasks.
42g Rose petals.
20g Lavender petals.
10 empty soul bottles. Glass with a diamond stopper, put in scaled leather wrapping.
The Great White Egret grimoire. Dedicated by the Maven of mysteries to Inara. 30/100. Locked.

Present Companions:

Languages:
Toml’a <People’s tongue> Fluent
Sinteo <Speech> Fluent
Myrsha <Gravity> 8/10
Felul <Wind> 1/10
Nim <Water> 1/10
A'arkalu <Wolf Tongue> 4/10

Injuries and scars: Blood loss.

Curses: unknown extracted parasite, possibly bloodline related. Gone due to an unknown bloodline magic.

Kingdom’s treasury: 3836 gold coins. 123 magical gems. ?

Kingdom’s citizen: Red Cedar City: 3,881 humans, 1,836 human children.???
Apricot City: approximate 800+ humans.
Twin Moon Tribe: No longer Loyal.

Kingdom's army: 40 footmen 284 Footmen ???. 49 Peacekeeper Knights ???. 500 Blood Spears.

Notables at Court:
Tasiya Keyholder.
Jolla SilverQuill.
Talbot Bookkeeper.
Old Gardner Tiom.
Aisha?

2023-12-28 18:50:40 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 128 in color

2023-12-28 18:49:55 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 127 colorless

Chapter 127 Battle to the Death. Kreka’ak no Kolh’ak.

The world does not care for happiness, only strength.
But a strength without happiness is meaningless.

Tonisha, Lady of Ventures.

“Damnation!”

I gasp when Kolag pulls out his claymore from my flesh, blood gushes out in volumes. He lifts my upper body with a hand under my back, and I drink the potion eagerly when he presses the metallic bottle against my lips. I let out a relieved sigh when I feel the wound in my abdomen closing. I am freezing, probably due to the loss of blood, but I’ll most likely live. “Thank you, I love you…” I whisper.

“Noxi really hates this…” The glow coming out of Kolag’s armor is gone in an instant. The shiny white holy armor he wears turns into the battered shimmering black metallic skin he always had. “He left…” there is clear pain in his voice. “I can’t hear him anymore.”

I hold onto his next and whisper in his helmeted ear. “Your god is a hypocrite. I really don’t care what Noxi hates. I love you, and I care what you like. The only reason I accepted Noxi was you, but I still don’t want to die for that choice. Thank you Kolag… Thank you for choosing me over him…”

He grunts, but hugs me tightly. “Please don’t let the savages enslave all of these people… never mind my god, I can’t live with myself knowing the woman I love is going to enslave hundreds of people… You said I won't be able to sleep at night knowing I killed you, and you're right, but I also won't be able to sleep at night knowing you enslaved all these people...”

I sigh, and slowly get up to my feet with his help. “What do you want me to do? You heard Jerro.”

He supports my body with a hand around my back. “I did. A compromise of some sort?”

I break the hug and stand on my own, despite the dizziness. “Giving us two thirds of the people is already a compromise. The orcs... They respect strength, not compromises… how did they even take you as a prisoner?”

“Gorlor threatened to kill an innocent woman if I don’t surrender…”

“I see… I have an idea." I blink, trying to chase away my dizziness and not shudder from the cold. My heart pounds in my chest as I struggle to breathe. A lump in my throat blocks part of my airways, I touch my throat and realize that the parasite Jolla removed is back in my throat, and when it builds up enough blood particles, my cough will be a death sentence. The healing potion did more than just save my life, just like Jolla warned. This is a problem for later, I have to deal with this crisis now! “Gorlor!” I call out.

The elder orc lifts his chin.

“Are orcs honorable?”

“Of course!” He replies as a matter of fact.

“You don’t have any right to any of this sheep. You haven’t beaten Kolag, you used dishonorable tricks to bind him. You’ll release the sheep you haven't earned!”

“He surrendered,” Gorlor exclaims.

“Not by choice. You forced his hand with a dishonorable trick.” I see the orcs shifting uncomfortably at my words. “Fight him! All of you wolves! Fight him if you dare. Come at him together and fight him! If you win, you can keep your snaking sheep… but if you lose, all of your sheep will become his!”

The orcs exchange looks, a wave of growls erupts. I know they can’t turn down such a challenge.

“Inara… Noxi isn’t with me anymore… I don’t have my powers… I can’t…”

“You can. Take off your helmet if you have to. Kill them until they stop coming. You made this rotting mess, you're the one who demanding their release, you clean it up! Go!”

“Don’t!” Jerro rushes from his place behind Balgrum’s seat, raising both of his hands in alarm. “Inara don’t. This is worse than before. Please!”

“Our laws forbid mass of bloodshed for the sake of sheep.” Balgrum stands up. “Al nh’ gah’ kra’lat! Ga’akash ti-yoma’ari, ala grusha’ashesh, ti-araj gah’ krek!” <I will not ___! ___ our sheep, I did _____, dogs no fight!>

I step forward toward the dying flames in the middle of the camp, dragging Kolag behind me. I raise his hand high. "Then don't come all at once. Choose a champion to fight him, fair and square. As many champions as you want. You did not beat him, and by your own laws you don't have a right to these sheep. Gorlor you are a dishonorable snake! Fight him for the sheep you haven't earned if you dare! Or are you all just cowards?!"

Agilla steps forward lifting her axe above her head, for a moment I think she's the one who's going to be the champion who challenges Kolag. “Balgrum yomla a’ari oko! Al, Agilla, nh’la oko! Ti kreka’ak no kolh’ak!” <Balgrum weak cowardly chief! I, Agilla, will be better chieftess! We fight to honorable death!>

This is the first sentence in orcish I fully understand, and I wish I hadn’t. The orcs who were obviously uncomfortable with my claims and Grolor's actions, now howl wildly, happy to shift this into a familiar simple situation. They raise their weapons up in the air, and slam their axes against their shield for a battering sound, cheering madly at the upcoming challenge and the promised duel.

“Please stop!” Jerro screams, he collapses near me holding his head in his hands. “All of you stop!” His voice turns weak. “Stop it stop it stop it, blood, death, everyone dies, everything dies, blood, darkness, void, blood, stop.”

Balgrum growls angrily and unsheathes his axe, turning to face Agilla. “Ria’arikal!” <Traitor!> he growls at her.

She laughs and bites the air in his direction. “A’ari” <Weak>

Attacking her after she wins the duel will turn the orcs against me, but what if I can attack her now… I put my hand in my pouch and pick a handful of rose petals. “Myrsha! Lu myrsha nik!” <Gravity! Don’t pull her!> I cast a swift ‘Alino’s Weightless Body’ on Agilla.

Silence falls on the crowd. They all watch wide eyed as the orc loses her balance and floats in the air, a speck of purple light circling her rapidly. She seems as if she’s deep under water, except her hair doesn’t float. She turns her head and screams at me. “Ik gah’ lat potasi! Gah’ h’ak! Kreka’ak no kolh’ak! Jash!” <You no ___ shaman! No honor! We battle to honorable death! ___!>

“You schemed to take control over this clan for a while Agilla, using honor for your own ambitions… I healed your blood curse just an hour ago, is this how you repay me? Do you take me for a fool? Do you take all of the wolves here for fools?” Whether this is true or not I have to make her seem like a dishonorable villain here. If I won’t, the orcs would turn against me. But I also have to stop this duel no matter what.

“Ria’arikal!” <Traitor!> Balgrum growls in agreement over the deathly silence.

“Kreka’ak no kolh’ak!” <We battle to honorable death!> Agilla screams.

Some of the orcs begin chanting. “Kreka’ak no kolh’ak, kreka’ak no kolh’ak kreka’ak no kolh’ak.” It isn’t looking good for us. If I kill her, Sharla and Jerro will die, and if I don’t, Balgrum will die… I have to think of something! Anything!

“Let her down Shaman, we fight to the death.” The calm words come from Balgrum.

“Let her down…” Jerro repeats with fatigue in his voice. He gets up to his feet and limp to standing behind me. “It’s much worse if you kill her…”

I sigh and cut the supply of mana to the spellweave. Agilla drops to the ground and snarls at Balgrum with a mad smile on her face. The two shed off their new Marili scale armor, staying in their loin clothes. They circle each other, axes raised, both of them expose their sharp teeth, growling.

Agilla makes the first move. She charges at Balgrum, feinting a swing from above, then strikes from the side instead. Balgrum takes a step back, avoiding the violent hack. Agilla keeps swinging and swinging as the larger orc take one step back after the other.

“She’s going to win,” Jerro murmurs. “She’ll kill him, she’ll be the new warlord… She’s forceful, she’ll want to conquer other cities and hunt insane monsters. She won’t stop until she dies, follow her, don’t scheme, don’t challenge her authority again. Be submissive to her… within two months she’ll die in one of her hunts… And you’ll be able to take control again…”

“What about the people the orcs have enslaved?” Kolag asks in a low muffled voice.

Jerro shakes his head. “Inara can negotiate the release of one third of them right now, and the release of all once the mad wolf dies… The alternative is killing that mad wolf right now… but that’ll result in my death, my soul mate’s death, and many other innocent lives…”

“I can probably assassinate her. Ryon spends too much time in her bed anyway, I’m sure he can kill her…” I whisper, hoping my voice won’t be overheard over the orc’s howls.

“You can, but you’d lose both the orcs and their slaves… you can also groom another orc to challenge her to a duel, and you’d lose the orcs and the slaves… I’ve seen you doing both, and in both cases the orc elder blames you for ‘human schemes’…”

“What if we kill the elder first?” I ask.

“Inara…” Kolag’s echoing voice is tired. “Not everything can be solved by killing the people who stand in your way.”

“You should say that, after trying to kill me…” I reply sarcastically.

He pauses, I can tell my words hurt him. Good! “You’re right, I had to learn this lesson the hard way. Don’t repeat my mistakes...”

He has a point… what am I going to do with this mess? I sigh and look at Balgrum’s axe missing Agilla’s neck by a hair’s breath. So close! The two combatants take a step back and circle each other again, biting the air in front of their opponent and faking a charge.

“If you kill the elder first, Agilla will use it to demand your death… you’ll have to fight the whole tribe,” Jerro replied.

“What if we kill them both at the same time?” I ask.

“Then the orcs might follow you… you don’t have a high chance of success… Let Agilla die in the hunt, listen to me for once!”

“And what if you’re wrong? I listened to you earlier, and you haven’t predicted Kolag’s attempt to kill me Jerro, why is that?”

“Kolag is… was, a favorite of another god. I already told you, I can’t predict the choices of another god’s chosen ones, not with accuracy.”

“I won’t threaten your life again, Inara, I swear it!” Kolag’s echoing voice is filled with guilt. “After this, I’ll tie myself in the dungeon, I’ll stay there until the day we leave this cursed island…”

Like hell you would! “No, you won’t! I’m going to need your help.”

“But I’ve challenged your authority, and I attempted to kill you. If I had chosen wrong earlier, you’d be dead! I can’t be trusted!”

Sure, he tried to kill me… but at the end he went against his god and chose not to… even if it meant losing his powers… just because he loves me… I really love him for this… Sure, I'm also mad at him for trying to kill me in the first place, but I don't him chained to a wall for this. I can't trust him anymore... No. He more than proved himself by betraying his god for me, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and pretend I trust him. “You also chose not to kill me, despite everything you had to lose. I’ll trust you to do the same in the future.”

“I…” He hesitates. “I’m not sure I’ve made the right choice, please don’t put me in this situation again, Inara…”

He doesn't trust himself, and that's a good sign that I can and should trust him again... I still can't... I'll need time... but he doesn't have to know that... “You’ve made the right choice, we have each other’s backs. If you see me making a mistake, talk to me, and not with your sword. If I ever put you in this situation again, I’ll trust you to make the exact same choice at the very end. Or better, not even attack me to begin with.”

“I don’t trust myself to make the same choice…”

“Then I’ll trust you for the both of us!” Stop doubting yourself you stupid bucket-head! You don’t have the heart to kill me! He almost did a couple of minutes ago… over some religious rot… But he didn’t! He turned on his god for me, I’ll turn on my paranoia for him…

Or maybe I’m just blinded by love… how am I different than Zoe? What if Kolag one day decides that letting me live is wrong? Maybe I should put him in the dungeon… No! I should trust him! I love him… and that blinds me… he's right...
He won’t kill me!
He almost did just now…

Agilla charges at Balgrum with a canine growl and chops off his hand. Balgrum backs off with a painful snarl, the axe and his torn palm fall off to the ground. Agilla swings her axe again, and Balgrum’s head fly off his shoulders, rolling down to the ground.

A magical red aura envelopes the orcish woman. Agilla raises her head and howls upward, just like she did after killing the blood fae.

I bite my lower lip as I watch the empty eyes in the bodiless head of a person I cared for, feeling broken inside. First Lezere, and now him, and over what? An ambitious bitch?! “Why didn’t you tell me not to heal Agilla earlier?” I ask Jerro hatefully.

“I didn’t see it back then… but this is worse than I thought… Agilla just became a chosen of Nuriss Goddess of War… I can no longer see her path.”

The orcish woman lifts Balgrum’s head, my friend’s head, by his hair. She raises the head high up and howls again. The orcs around begin chanting. “Oko! Oko! Oko! Oko!” <Chieftess! Chieftess! Chieftess! Chieftess!>

“So you’re no longer sure she’ll die on that hunt.”

“Correct…”

“That’s just great. Jerro? Take Sharla, take all the palace's personal, anyone who’s still free in this city and is willing to leave. Take all the food from the storages, board the ships in the harbor, and sail to Apricot City down the river… You have until tomorrow…”

My prophet nods solemnly, takes Sharla’s hand, and leaves toward the city in the distance.

“What are you up to, Inara?” Kolag asks at my side.

“If push comes to shove, be ready to take your helmet off…” I murmur.

A pair of orcs lifts Balgrum’s headless corpse, they carry him respectfully to one of their leathery huts.

“I’m Chief! And I hafe goddess blessing, shaman agree?” Agilla approaches me, showing me Balgrum’s head.

“Can I disagree? Yes, you are chief. I’ll wait for the day another wolf removes your head in the same fashion…” You rotten jar, I'll make you suffer!

“When that happen, I will go to hall of bones. Until then, I’m Chief!” She exposes her sharp teeth in a bloodied smile.

“That you are,” I say dryly. Only takes one single cough to kill you, you snaking harpy!

“Summon a red spirit. Hafe it bless me!”

“Excuse me, what?”

She snarls. “Red spirit, Shaman. Now!”

She probably mean a life elemental? They’re red… fire elementals are also red… which one? Probably life, they always look bloody… “Cut your wrist, red spirits love blood,” I say dryly, recalling the elemental summoning manual. I can summon a life elemental, but I’m not going to use my blood for it… I’ve lost too much blood as it is…

Agilla grins wildly and makes a shallow cut on her wrist with the same axe she took Balgrum’s head with.

“Ton revatol.” <Life elemental.> I say the two words, hoping some elemental will think it’s enough or be tempted by Agilla's blood. My Reviss <Energy> language isn’t great, but the other option is Rod’e and that itchy lips language is much worse.

A puff of red smoke, and a tiny elemental shows up, he drinks some of Agilla’s blood and disappears in another puff of red smoke. Why would they refuse free offerings…

Agilla nods with satisfaction. “Now I’m chief!” She turns to face the crowd of cheering orcs and raises both her bloody axe and Balgrum’s head. “Ti-a’ark kra’a gushasha, ti-a’ark sluka’a graker! Ti-A’ark sra’apo ti-a’arj lor-ka’ak! Ti-a’ark brika’a gra krekolak no krek! Ti-a’ark kashla yoma’ari! Ti-a’ark kashla boa’ari! Potasi nh’ti sugata klatira’a sluka’a! no nh’i sakra’a la’aoko!”
<we wolves eat ___, we wolves march ___! We wolves burn dogs’ dens! We wolves ___ ___ prey to hunt! We wolves bind sheep! We wolves bind ___! Shaman tell us ___ march! To bone grandchieftess!>

The orcs’ cheers and howls can probably be heard from miles away. An hour later, they bring grilled meat and alcohol. They set their party with the human slaves attending to their every need.

Unlike the last party, I now see different things. A female orc giving a thorough beating to a little human boy, just because he doesn’t move out of her way fast enough. Another orc dragging a screaming human woman to his leathery hut, the noises from the inside makes it very clear what he’s doing to her.

Another small section of the ground near the bonfire is cleared from people. A group of old slaves spread sharp bones on the ground, and the new naked slaves are made to run on it. This time it's not even about breaking their will, it's entertainment, the orcs around cheers with bellowing laughter, some are even betting on the outcome of which slave will make it first to the finish line.

To the side a female orc whips an elderly man. I wince with every crack of that whip. That’s what I wanted to agree to! Snakes!

Maybe at last party Balgrum kept them in check, or maybe I just saw what I wanted to see. “That’s not how the wolves treated their sheep in the last party.” I say to Agilla who takes her new cheiftess seat near me.

“Many new sheep, they need to be tamed, wolfes tame them…”

Right, back then they only had tame slaves, they don’t abuse tame slaves, only the rebellious ones… “How are you going to feed them all? You took a couple of thousands people, that’s a lot of mouths to feed…”

“There’s food in city, shaman promised food to sheep in Aprigot City. We hunt. We raid Aprigot City. We take more sheep. We take more food,” she answers.

Hurry Jerro, take the food and get the snake out of here… Apricot City needs that food more than anything! “Very well, we’ll go tomorrow and take it before we march. But you have to promise me that all of your sheep get food!” Keep the dumb dog negotiating on the things she think I’ll value… let her think I have plans for the long run… she dies tonight… chosen of Nuriss or not…

“You hafe my word, Shaman, we don’t starvfe our sheep.”

“Good! That’s all I ask.”

She looks in my direction, but I ignore her stare and keep my eyes on the large bonfire in the middle of the camp. I clench my teeth, trying not to shudder in the cold, I’m freezing despite the heat from the fire in front of me. I swallow, trying to sooth the constant itch in my throat, the parasite that builds up blood particles. I'll kill Agilla with my breath.

“You don’t want me to be chief, why?” Agilla asks.

Do you even need to ask? “Balgrum was my friend, you killed him.”

“He was my friend too, but he was old. I gafe him honor death while he can still do battle, he died happy. Now I eat him and gain his power, he’ll be happy in hall of bones, happy to know that the power in his flesh won’t be gone.”

I give a disgusted glance to the piece of grilled meat in her hand. “Is that?”

“Balgrum, yes. You can’t have his meat, Shaman, it for me alone!”

You’re so dead, you bitch! I don’t care about differences in culture, I don’t care about anything… Luard killed Lezere, and I killed him for it… you killed Balgrum, and you’ll suffer the same fate! No one gets away with crossing me like this! No one gets away with killing the people I care about! No one! “I don’t want that…”

“You don’t want his power?” She seems surprised.

“He was my friend, I cherished his life… not his death.” But I'll cherish your death little dog...

“Humans are mad…” She keeps chewing on my friend’s corpse, and I keep imagining blood pouring out of her orifices over and over in my head.

Not now… not yet… I need Jerro to escape first… be out of reach in the river... only then I’ll strike!

They keep offering me food and alcohol and I keep declining. Kolag stands behind me like a silent metallic statue, and I stare into the large bonfire in the middle of the camp. I do my best to keep my eyes open, to fight my fatigue. Fortunately, my burning rage and hatred keeps me awake. I sit there, waiting for the mad orc party to die out.

{28} Brigit (August) the 10th

It’s deep into the night, most of the orcs are drunk and unconscious by now. The few that aren’t, retire to their huts with a partner or a slave. Their activity is loud enough to make me grimace.

Agilla burps. “That was fun party, come to my tent to sleep, Shaman?”

“No, thank you…”

“Come! I make you hafe fun!” She gropes her own exposed breast and lifts it toward me, the grin reaches her amber wolf eyes.

I can’t stand her face. I can’t stand the fact that she killed Balgrum, my friend, the only person I had left of Lezere. And she just ate him RigHt iN frOnt of mE. Now she invites me to her tent for sex too, like it’s a normal thing to do?!

Snake orcs and snake their snaking culture! I’ve had enough!!! Just die! Just disappear!

I. WANT. YOU. GONE!

My hatred and rage merges with my mana and condense around the parasite in my throat, but I don't need mana, I simply cough at her.

*THOOOOOOMP*

The expected cloud of dark particles doesn't show. Every source of light in the camp is gone in an instant and my vision goes dark.

*Blink*

I can see clearly again. A longdark rod is impaling Agilla's chest. No. It's not a rod, it's an odd snake that sucks the light out of the surroundings, as if the parasite in my throat turned into this. The snake wriggle in the orc's chest, and...

*Blink*

The world turns dark again.

*Blink*

Agilla's whole body explodes as if someone sets off a ‘Kinetic Burst’ inside her heart, showering me with gore, guts, and shards of bones.

*~*~*

Transmutation: Oniga's Laundry.

Spells known:
Light: Rika's Electric Channelb1
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb1x2. Tukado's Pushb1x3. Tukado’s defense IIIb1x4. Imari’s Lesser Flightb2.

Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison. Brigit’s Skin Restoration.

Focus capability: 19 patterns.

Social status: The Queen of Red Cedar City. Shaman of the Twin Moon Tribe. Inara, Daughter of Mysteries. Apprentice to the Maven of Mysteries. Sorceress.

Personal Wealth: 1465 Magic Gems. 1420 Golden Peas, 45 Silver Scales, 32 Copper Bits.

Present Companions:
Kolag

Languages:
Toml’a <People’s tongue> Fluent
Sinteo <Speech> Fluent
Myrsha <Gravity> 8/10
Felul <Wind> 1/10
Nim <Water> 1/10
A'arkalu <Wolf Tongue> 4/10

Injuries and scars: Blood loss.

Curses: unknown extracted parasite, possibly bloodline related.

Kingdom’s treasury: 3836 gold coins. 123 magical gems.

Kingdom’s citizen: Red Cedar City: 3,881 humans, 1,836 human children.???
Apricot City: approximate 800+ humans.
Twin Moon Tribe: 1,138 orcs. 293 orc children. 529 sheep-slaves. ???

Kingdom's army: 1,136 Orc Warriors.??? 40 foot man 284 Footmen ???. 49 Peacekeeper Knights ???. 500 Blood Spears.

Notables at Court:
Tasiya Keyholder.
Jolla SilverQuill.
Talbot Bookkeeper.
Old Gardner Tiom.

2023-12-25 15:12:00 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 127 in color

2023-12-25 15:10:57 +0000 UTC View Post

Announcement

I'm planning to take another break a month from now. Life is catching up to me, and I find less time to work on what I love doing.

The break will be from the 21st of January to the 21st of February. Funnily enough, Koshavi the 21st aka 21st of Feb is Marisha's birthday (decided via a dice roll) so good timing. I'll go back to uploading on the 22nd of Feb.

After the break, I also plan to make some potential changes to the Patreon account.

As I've done last time, I'll freeze the Patreon for the duration.

Thank you all for your support! <3

2023-12-21 18:02:40 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 126 colorless

Chapter 126 The Wrong Choice.

People reveal who they truly are on their worse day.
No.
People reveal who they truly are on their best day.
Bad days drive people to terrible acts.
But it’s the good days that show their true character.
Everyone make mistakes, what you do after mistakes is what matters.

Koshavi, the Princess of Dreams.

I look into Jerro's eyes, if I’m going to bring his death it’s the least I can do. “Jerro, what happens if I ask them to release the slaves they took?” I ask in a low voice.

“The warlord will back you up. Another insignificant orc will declare that the warlord is a weak chief and challenge him to a duel. The warlord will lose and die, you get angry and kill the other orc… The orc tribe turn against you and we have to fight them all. I die, my soulmate dies. You and the paladin fight, you might die in the fight. You two kill three hundred orcs before they retreat in defeat and shame. I can’t see if the paladin die or not, he’s a chosen of a god now, I can’t see chosen ones actions. The orcs burn the city and leave their slaves behind… Please Inara, don’t do it! I beg you!”

“What happens if I don’t kill the other orc?”

“The orcs will still follow you, but the new chieftess won’t release the slaves. The warlord dies for nothing. You do not understand me, Queen," Jerro states. "You can enslave them. They can be your slaves, not the orcs'."

Wait... "Balgrum. Don't I get a third of the tribe's spoils?"

"You do, Shaman." Balgrum nods at my side.

I cross my hands. "Then give me my third, and let them go back to the city. Also your own third should follow, you gave me your word."

"I did, Shaman." Balgrum gives a weary glance to Gorlor, and the elderly orc sneers. "What about the third that belongs to the wolfes?"

I lean my chin on my palm, weighing down my options. This solves two thirds of the problem already. Now... It'd be much easier to let the orcs keep their third and turn a blind eye... it's a good compromise... yet... I'm losing my morality. Is it better to sacrifice three of my friends’ lives while also risking the life of the man I love and my own? I saw how far this got me with Luard's soul... too many died... yet, now I'm offering the lives of hundreds for enslavement... No! I won't repeat Lezere, I won't let a single person I care about die, and to hell with the innocents! They're nothing but snaking useless pawns!

“What will it be shaman?” Balgrum asks in a low growl, “I’ll back you up if you want your people released…”

Even if you know it’ll kill you… admirable… You’ve more than earned your place in my heart Balgrum… I only wish Lezere was here too…

I don’t have enough time to think this through, I need to decide or the orcs will lose their patience… These people are lost… it’s according to their own religion that I can enslave them after all… The perfect pawns indeed...

My thoughts feels empty in my head, and my reply to Balgrum is hollow as my heart. I'll pick all the young girls and children, they shouldn't go through this. I'll leave the old people for the orcs... “No. we’ll let your wolves keep the third of the sheep that they’ve obtained, I'll choose my third to take…”

“No!” Kolag’s response is within my expectation. “You told me to stop you from making a heartless mistake, and this is a mistake!”

I get up, angrily, reverting to Toml'a our shared native tongue. "I'm doing what I can, Kolag. It's your fault they're in this situation to begin with, and I've just released two thirds of them. You have no right to demand anything of me!"

He switches to Toml'a as well. "Demand?! I'm not demanding anything." He steps up to me and gestures behind him. “Look at all these people. Look at them! Families. Children. You’re dooming them a third of them to a life of slavery and countless abuses!”

I heave a sigh. “I know that. But what about Jerro? What about Sharla and Balgrum? Why should I let them die for people I don’t even know?! People who blindly worship me because some god told them to? Fuck! These people can’t think for themselves nor help themselves, you've seen how they are! Give me one good reason why I should insist here!"

He stomps, taking a step forward. “Because it’s the right thing to do!”

I cross my hands, leaning forward. The elevated stage of Balgrum and I giving me the height advantage. “According to who? Noxi?! I don’t follow your god. I can finally reach my goals like this. Once I advance to a mage, I can finally go home and see my brother again. I’m done caring about these people! They obviously don’t care about me, and they’d worship any other mage the same way they worship me. That includes someone like Luard for the fuck sake! They aren’t loyal. They don’t love me as a queen. They’re just fanatics who follow they're damned god.”

I can see some of the slaves below averting their gaze as desperation takes over them. I guess some of them do speak Toml’a, huh? I know about the talks in the tavern. Many of them complained about me, hated my takeover. Despite the fact that I got rid of a tyrant and arranged them all with jobs and almost ended poverty before the war began. The war didn’t exactly make me very popular either. The orcs are twisted, sure, but at least they’re fiercely loyal and they love me. I feel much more comfortable around them… they’re simple.

Kolag takes a deep breath, his voice turning calmer. “You know this is wrong. You know this is a mistake. Don’t do this!”

“So you want me to let Jerro and Sharla die?!”

He shakes his head slowly. “No, we’ll do our best, but moving according to Jerro’s predictions is a mistake. You know it is.”

“You don’t get to lecture me about mistakes. You did wonderful so far!” I flinch, my hurtful sarcasm hurts me just as much as it seems to have hurt him.

“Inara… please?” The pain is apparent in his voice.

I take a deep breath, regretting my words and my loss of temper. I’m tired of caring about people I don’t know… I’m tired of doing the right thing all the time… I’m tired of having the people I care about, die for the ‘right thing’, I’m just tired… I want power, I don’t want to be some savior… I want to go home as a mage… I want to make sure my brother is safe… I want to find my sister… I hope to find my real mother one day… I don’t want to be stuck here forever on the gray islands trying to govern a group of people who treat me like some twisted idol for their religion and hate me behind my back…

“"The last time someone did not listen to Jerro's prediction Lezere died. I will not have anyone I care about die! Not you. Not Jerro. Not Sharla. No one will die! I’m tired of having people I care about die on me. No, this is final. I’m doing the best with what I have. Two third of the people will go back to their lives in the city and they are my claimed sheep! There'll be no more raiding, Balgrum.”

"Grrrr agreed." The orc nods.

Kolag reaches for the claymore on his back. The sword shakes in his grip, his whole body is shaking. A faint glow comes out of his armor and blade. “No, you’re excusing evil, you’re convincing yourself that it’s good, I can’t let you do this… I’d rather if you died pure than have you commit such an atrocity.”

I cross my hands refusing to get up or acknowledging Kolag as a threat. “So you’ll kill me because I disagree with your world view of good and bad? How did that work out for you so far? You killed an orc for a disagreement and look at where we are now.”

He shakes his head and puts a hand on the side of his helmet, as if he’s attempting to cover his ear. He shakes his head again in refusal before speaking. “Yeah. I can see where we are, and I see you losing your way… I may have made a mistake, but you’re making one right now. Please! Tell the orcs to release all of the prisoners, not just two thirds.”

“And sacrifice you and the others for the ‘right thing’? Never!”

“Then defend yourself,” his voice echoes unnaturally, way stronger than the usual echo of his helmet.

“It’s Noxi telling you to kill me isn’t it? I told you this day will come. I told you Noxi will do this! I won’t defend myself from you. You’re the man I love, why should I defend myself from you. Kill me if you wish. How does Noxi feel about harming a woman who won’t defend herself?” I sit down and put a leg over leg pretending I’m not going to fight him. Try to strike and I’m blasting you away…

He looks at me. I hear his heavy echoing breath behind the metallic visor. The tip of his claymore touch the ground and his hand sag, he can’t do it.

“Thought so!” I declare victorious. A hollow victory.

“May his light descend!” Kolag calls out, and a flash of bright light comes out of his armor.

I push the ground with my leg. I tilt the chair backward and fall on my back, blinded by the bright light. I twist and roll away, the claymore swing that misses me hacks my chair in two. He’s fucking serious!

“Rod’ena!” <vines!> snake-like vines come out from the ground, wrapping themselves around him. An aura of light flickers, and the vines disintegrate.

“Nimuwal!” <boundless water!> I aim my water-jet at the light, getting up to my feet and walking backward. The water don’t hit Kolag. Instead, the water stop and gather around him in a shape of a bubble, almost as if he has an invisible barrier protecting him. However, the water breaks the light, helping me see a vague shape of the bright white armor behind it.

*Slash* A shining claymore from the bard’s tales splits the water veil in two. I add amplifying patterns, increasing the volume of water I conjure water as I retreat backward. The bubble of water thickens and a watery pond forms on the ground. Kolag advances, swinging his sword, splitting my water again and again.

“Rial aluwe ri.” <Cold surface stop> I freeze the water. The bubble around Kolag freezes solid, and the pond turns into hardened ice. The water below his feet remains water, unaffected by magic.

Another hack splits the thin icy wall as he takes another step forward, stepping on my ice. One more swing and he’ll reach me. But the icy wall is only a distraction.

Got you! “Kushgari yefa!” <Metal fly!>, The metallic copper bolt doesn’t penetrate the adamantine armor, but penetrating the armor isn’t my aim. The fast flying projectile makes him stumble, and the slippery ice below his feet causes him to lose his balance and slip. With a loud crack, Kolag falls backward, laying down amidst shards of ice like a turtle on his back.

“Myrsha, nia latsa lah.” <gravity, I defy you.> I cast the swift version of ‘Lesser Flight’ before Kolag manages to get up to his feet. A brief moment later I hover three meters up in the air with my hands crossed. This battle is over, he can’t hurt me if I’m in the air.

“What now? I refuse to fight you and you can’t reach me! Are you going to take off that helmet too? How far are you willing to go for your morals? You clearly don’t care about my life… your god is just more important to you than me.” This hurts me more than anything, he’ll do anything for his god, but not for me. He’s willing to go against his love for me, for the sake of a god’s principles. He’s willing to kill me for his god! I can’t believe I fell for this guy!

“I won’t watch you lose your purity if I can do something about it. I won’t watch you enslaving thousands for power!” He stumbles to his feet “I’m doing this because I care about you! Noxi said he’ll protect your soul.”

“Did I ask for Noxi to take my soul and protect it? Remember what happens to souls? What's to say he simply won't consume my soul?! Is trying to kill me means caring about me now?!” What a twisted way of looking at it… he’s telling himself he’s doing it out love… ugh…

He looks up to me from the ground, his face covered by the damned metal helmet. “Your soul will be pure, you’ll not be responsible for the enslavements of hundreds, women and children included. You won’t lose your heart.”

“Do you think I’ve lost my heart? That I don’t care?! I offered a gold coin to the gang leaders in Apricot City for every person they save! I saved two thirds, as many as I can without further bloodshed. What you want will cause another war! I just care about Jerro and Sharla's lives mo…”

Kolag throws his sword at me mid-sentence. I dodge, but due to the surprise attack, I do not react fast enough. An involuntary scream escapes my lips as the glowing claymore pierces the side of my abdomen, tearing through my new armor as if it’s thin paper. The world turns upside down, and I find myself laying on my back with the claymore pinning me to the ground.

The human slaves cheer, only to be whipped by their orcs masters. So many people wanting me dead… Kolag is the reason they were enslaved to begin with… but they aren’t even blaming him… This is unfair… the world is so unfair… Kolag is unfair… he attacked while I was in the middle of talking to him… Ha! Like fairness matter in battles… or in this damned world… So much for Jerro’s prediction… couldn’t he see this coming? So much for the easy way out of this stupid assignment by the hag… so much for being a ranked mage and going home… I’m going to die here… and the person who’ll kill me is the man I love…

No! I don’t want to die!

I struggle. The searing pain at the left side of my abdomen brings tears to my eyes, my heart pounds loudly in my ears. I attempt to pull the heavy weapon out, but it’s too heavy for me, I don’t have enough strength in my arms. A healing potion! Won’t help with the steel in my stomach…

Kolag helmet fills my vision, he crouches near me and caresses my cheek. “I love you, but I can’t let you do this…”

“I don’t want to die.” I admit, scared.

“I know…” he unsheathes a dagger with his other hand.

“I just don’t want my friends to die! Can’t you see it?”

“I know…” He presses the dagger against my throat.

“Please don’t…” I beg for my life.

“I have to…” the echoing voice hardens itself, preparing for what he’s about to do. Light shines from his armor.

“No, you don’t… it’s your choice!”

“It’s my god Inara. He speaks to me… he says I have to kill you. What choice do I have?”

“Does your god make you happy? Is he worth following?”

“I can’t betray my god! You had a choice, and you chose wrong! Why did you choose wrong Inara?! Why?!” he blames me angrily.

I gasp for air, the pain is unbearable. “I couldn’t see Jerro and Sharla die, or Balgrum, it’d be like Lezere all over again… I didn’t want you to die… I chose to keep the people I love safe. And you… you’re choosing to kill the people you love, for people and a god you don’t even know…” I attack the chinks in his armor, I know how much he hates himself for the mistakes he commits, and that is my only chance to live. "Will you able to sleep at night knowing you ended my life? Do you always make the right choice Kolag?"

“But now I do make the right choice! Now my god is telling me what the right choice is!”

The world dims, the strength leave my arms, and they rest in a pool of my blood. My tears flow down my temples, I’m dying… I’m dying! I can’t die! I have to go home! “Ughh… I see… your god told you to kill the orc… to start a war… ugh… your god created this mess… your god put us in this impossible situation… your god knows that once you kill me, you’ll truly be his… ughhh… you’ll be his pawn… for a god of truth he’s so manipulative…” Even speaking is painful right now. “There’s a potion in my belt… Kolag? Please? I don’t want to die…”

“It’s ok… rest, Inara…” I can feel him steeling his resolve from how his arm moves.

“No!”

“Rest…”

“I don’t want to!” I fight to stay awake. To keep my eyes open. To look into his visor. If he’s going to kill me, I’ll haunt him for the rest of his life, I don’t want to die!

*~*~*

Interlude 126.1

Kolag

“Kill her! She’s an abomination!” Kolag hears Noxi in his head, his god is too eager for Inara’s death. “Kill her and you’ll be free of your demon for good! Bring justice to the people she wanted to enslave, bring light into the world. If she dies now, I’ll be able to protect her soul!”

“Kill her! She’s soOo fUll of Manaaaaaa goOood maaAanaaaaa… taste! LeT mE taSte!” The demon screams in his head.

Kolag looks at the woman he loves, her gray eyes peering stubbornly into his. For a moment he can’t even recognize her, then he sees her for who she is. Even now she does not feel any remorse for her choices. “Noxi says that if I kill you, I’ll be free from the demon.”

She moans in pain and blinks rapidly. “Ugh… if Noxi can free you from the demon… why didn’t he do so already? Ugh… if he loves you… if he’s… if he’s such a good… and benevolent god… why wait for you to kill me before chasing your demon away? Why condition… and blackmail you with a demon?”

How can she have such conviction? How can she doubt a god? How can she suspect the god of truth for deceit?! Truly…

Inara’s eyes lose their focus, Kolag knows she’s going to die even if he won’t slit her throat. He’s going to stay with her…

“Drain her MAnnAAAA! HER SOUL!!! Quick! Before it’s gone!” The demon screams.

“You’ve done well my son!” Noxi declares. “A twisted one dies so thousand can be free. You’ve brought justice to the world!”

*~*~*

Transmutation: Oniga's Laundry.

Spells known:
Light: Rika's Electric Channelb1
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb1x2. Tukado's Pushb1x3. Tukado’s defense IIIb1x4. Imari’s Lesser Flightb2.

Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison. Brigit’s Skin Restoration.

Focus capability: 19 patterns.

Social status: The Queen of Red Cedar City. Shaman of the Twin Moon Tribe. Inara, Daughter of Mysteries. Apprentice to the Maven of Mysteries. Sorceress.

Personal Wealth: 1465 Magic Gems. 1420 Golden Peas, 45 Silver Scales, 32 Copper Bits.

Personal Items:
Magical necklace. Contains 100 gems of general mana, can be drained like a mana pool. It’ll recharge by itself at the rate of five gems an hour.
1 potion of lightning body.
1 potion of mana, medium grade.
2 potions of Lesser Healing.
2 potions of Pain Tolerance.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keeps the pouches’ content fresh. Each pouch may contain 10g of petals or six potion flasks.
45g Rose petals.
20g Lavender petals.
10 empty soul bottles. Glass with a diamond stopper, put in scaled leather wrapping.
The Great White Egret grimoire. Dedicated by the Maven of mysteries to Inara. 30/100. Locked.

Present Companions:
Sharlafyn Nettledew
Jerro
Kolag???

Languages:
Toml’a <People’s tongue> Fluent
Sinteo <Speech> Fluent
Myrsha <Gravity> 8/10
Felul <Wind> 1/10
Nim <Water> 1/10
A'arkalu <Wolf Tongue> 3/10

Injuries and scars: Pierced abdomen, blood loss.

Curses: unknown extracted parasite, possibly bloodline related.

Kingdom’s treasury: 3836 gold coins. 123 magical gems.

Kingdom’s citizen: Red Cedar City: 3,881 humans, 1,836 human children.???
Apricot City: approximate 800+ humans.
Twin Moon Tribe: 1,138 orcs. 293 orc children. 529 sheep-slaves.

Kingdom's army: 1,136 Orc Warriors. 40 foot man 284 Footmen ???. 49 Peacekeeper Knights ???. 500 Blood Spears.

Notables at Court:
Tasiya Keyholder.
Jolla SilverQuill.
Talbot Bookkeeper.
Old Gardner Tiom.
Balgrum Orc Chieftain.

2023-12-21 17:54:32 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 126 in color

2023-12-21 17:53:55 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 125 colorless

Chapter 125 Friends or Innocents, Choose Now!

There can be no justice when there’s emotion.
There can be no knowledge when there are no questions.
There can be no truth when there are assumptions.
There can be no existence without a soul.
And every soul matters.

Noxi, guardian of light.

It doesn’t take too long to figure an answer once I know what to look for. The Lesser Cure Disease Potion doesn't look too complicated to brew compared to glitter. The book mentions over and over that it'll only help against natural and low grade magical diseases.

A drop of blood from the alchemist.
Lavender.
Poppy.
Tiger Claw/Predatory land animal's claw.
Honey.
Vinegar.

I pass by the kitchen to get the ingredients, and I'm also looking for my spymaster. "Excuse me?" I ask a young freckled maid who bows too low. "Do you know where Marasi is? I can't find him anywhere."

She fidgets, clenching the cloth of her dark gray skirts. "He... he left, Your Majesty. Had other business outta town, he did."

"When did he leave exactly?"

"Before the riots began, Your Majesty."

"I see... Thank you." It's like he knew exactly when to leave... "Do you know how the riots began?"

She shakes her head with a wince. "No, Your Majesty."

"Very well. You're dismissed, thank you." I wonder if he serves another master, I should've known better...

Helpless and detached I head back to the garden to get a few poppy flowers and restock on casting material.

The old man is still sleeping under the shade of a tree, with his funny black hat covering his face. "Tiom?" I ask.

He scrambles up, pulling his hat off his face. "Hm? Oh it's you, young lady. Have you gotten your orcs under control yet?"

I shake my head. This old man is unnerving... combined with the fact that Marasi just gave me false information and escaped, I really shouldn't just trust these people... the palace's staff did serve Luard with the same dedication they serve me and that says a lot... Then again, Jolla and Tasyia have been nothing but helpful... "I'm here to get some lavender and roses, also poppies if you have them? What actually happened in the city while I wasn't here?" He knows more than he pretends to... might as well make some use of it.

The old man gets up slowly and limps to the nearby rose bush, taking out his pruner. "A man by the name of Moriz attacked an orc. The orc retaliated as orcs do when challenged by those they deem weak and enslaved the man. The man's friend lodged a complaint with the Knight Paladin of Noxi by the name of Kolag. The paladin of Noxi couldn't stand by, it is against his god's creed you see. He slaughtered the orc responsible and seven additional orcs who attempted to kill him. The act had brought a retaliation by the orcish tribe, they raided the city and enslaved its populace as orcs often do. We were spared because the orcs deemed the palace's staff as your slaves, young lady, and they cannot touch the slaves of their shaman. Ah, poppies, let me get you some."

Right... I feel like an idiot... I should've taken Kolag with me to avoid this kind of mess... Damn it to the rotten hells! Can't the bloody idiotic bucket head keeps the peace for a single rotten month without starting a civil war in the name of his snaking god?! "Any advice?"

The old man stops pruning red flower petals and stands tall, his pair of brown eyes looking directly into my own. "Orcs have grabby paws, they won't let go once they decided they own a slave. Gather them up, pretend to accept the new reality. Make an excuse for a party, get them all drunk, and slit their throats."

Ok... good to know he has such a ruthless crude side to him... I'll have him watched... "And if I want to keep them under me?"

He turns back to the flowers. "You'll have to let them keep their slaves, if you can stomach such a thing. Luckily, Olfgram Gemhand has avoided the whole debacle by taking his family on another vacation... right before the riots happen. Hm, yes. Auspicious, is it not?"

Olfgram Gemhand again... "Tiom. If you have any grievances with Olfgram, I suggest you air them."

He cuts a few red poppy petals and hand them to me. "No grievances. The Gemhand family is far and wide on the Gray Isles, making an enemy of them is not something I desire..."

I fold my hands on my chest. "But they made an enemy of you I assume."

He nods curtly, speaking in a low voice. "Kings and Queens rise and fall on the Gray Isles, but the Gemhands stay. I do not trust you to protect me or those I care for, young lady, but I'll say this: Be very careful when dealing with a Gemhand."

I fold my hands "If you can prove to me that he caused any of that, I'll take him out despite his family connections."

He turns to his flowers. "Hrmpf. No. I will not go that far. I have pointed you in the right direction, young lady. Do with that what you will. Now, I believe you have a disease to cure, go brew that potion before your pet orcs start to bleed again."

I shake my head. I'll need someone to keep an eye on him, and the Gemhands... And Marasi is gone... He was never reliable to begin with... Why the hell did I trust him?! I'm such an idiot! I'm letting Sharla handle spymaster position from today onward... I can’t afford to chase after marasi, I have to take care of this crisis. And first, I have to cure this damned disease!

I head to the alchemy lab, fill the cauldron anxiously, and follow the instructions the hag left in the recipe. Although I fail for the first time, the second attempt is successful. After brewing three more, I meet with the poor trio of orcs who finally get out of the library, and hand them each a potion. "Here. This should cure the disease," I say, trying not to touch my itching throat.

The three gulp the potions and the effects are rather quick. Agilla and Shufa are so happy that they begin a brawl on the spot. Toppling one another to the ground in something between a violent struggle and an odd mating ritual.

"You need to rest!" I call at the two who ignore me.

"Thank you... Inara," Balgrum says slowly as if saying the words pains him.

"You're welcome. I assume you'll free the people of this city from your men now? I'd rather avoid any further bloodshed." Every dead soul is one less under my command, and I was so close to ten thousands... rotten bucket head had to ruin it all!!!

"You have my word," Balgrum swears with a light bow in my direction, ignoring the pair of female orcs behind him who punch one another on the ground.

No. This isn't about my assignment from the hag. These people are more than numbers or pawns, these are people with lives, lives that got taken away from them... I know how that feels like... "Good! I'm going to need more than a word, I need my people back in the city. We also need to fix some shipments of food to Apricot City and get some of your men to scout Pear City for me. I guess we should take care of one crisis at a time."

Balgrum growls in agreement.

An hour later we make our way to the orcs’ camp. Balgrum, Agilla, Jerro, sharla, and Jolla join my entourage. We enter the orcs’ camp and get greeted by looks from hundreds of orcs and even a higher number of human ‘sheep’. Some of the humans are tied in together, others are led around by other slaves, being taught how to take care of menial tasks around the camp.

I pass by a small group of naked women who are being forced to run through patch covered in sharp bones and rocks. When one of them slows down, the orc who follows them behind whips her violently. On the other end a tall orc slaps a young teenaged boy for mixing something wrong, seemingly their alcohol distillation.

The sea of tents stretches around us, bordered by the tall wooden wall behind it. I can hear the cries from around the camp, though many of the slaves are surprisingly being led into the clearing to watch our proceedings.

The orcs gather around when we reach the center of the camp. In the middle of the camp near the large—currently dim—bonfire. Bones and skulls pool around the crackling firepit, as if the orcs took the word "bonefire" in the literal sense.

Elder Gorlor is here, and Kolag kneels near him with his hands tied behind his back. “Let him go!” I demand right away.

To my surprise, Gorlor doesn’t argue. He cuts the rope around Kolag’s wrists and pats his metallic shoulder.

Kolag gets up and walks toward me with a heavy step. “I rotted this… this is all my fault…” His echoing voice is fragile, hurt, close to crying. “I caused this… I’m a monster…”

You bet it’s your fault! I’ve worked so hard on getting all these people under my banner, and you get them into a damn civil war?! I trusted you! I trusted you’d keep my city safe! You stupid self-righteous bucket head!

I take a deep breath and heave a sigh, holding my rage in. This isn’t the time to lose my temper. He punished himself enough with his own guilt… Besides… I only have Tiom's account of what happened, he could be wrong… “Maybe you have.” I reply in Toml’a “But we’re human beings, we aren’t perfect, we make mistakes. You can make mistakes, I can make mistakes, we all make mistakes, and some of them can cost people their lives. It doesn’t make you a monster…”

I repeat the same words I’ve said when we first met. The more I talk, the more what I preach sounds right. Yes, he made a mistake. Yes, it ruined my plans. Yes, I have every right to take it out on him. But what good will it do? How will it make things better from this point onward? “…Learn from this and get better for the next time, Kolag. And please, stop hating yourself, it doesn’t get you anywhere. Let’s talk about this later, ok?”

Kolag nods quietly, I can’t tell what he’s thinking. I hope he stopped hating himself at least. If there is anything I truly dislike about him, is the amount of guilt he carries around, the impossible standards he expects from himself and everyone else to uphold. But as much as I want to, I can’t change him, you can’t change people…

I raise my voice for the rest of the orcs to hear clearly and switch back to Sinteo. “For now, tell me what happened here.”

Kolag is the one to reply. “A human encountered an orc urinating on his son’s burial tree. The human attacked the orc and the orc forcefully took the human as his slave. I rushed to that orc when I heard about it, I’ve tried to reach an agreement, but the orc kept mocking our sacred traditions. I’ve lost my temper and killed the orc and his friends… in response, the orcs have sacked the city. As I’ve said, I’m the one responsible…”

I shake my head. What was I expecting? At least Tiom wasn't far off... I take my seat near Balgrum in his chieftain chair. Agilla stands behind him like a loyal hound. Jerro, Sharla, and Jolla stand behind me in the same manner. “Gorlor? I’d like to hear your end of the story…”

The elderly orc holds onto his walking staff with both hands. His hairy spider crawls across the wooden surface. “Not much to add shaman. Your mate is honorable, and his description is most accurate.”

I lean forward angrily. “Why attack the city? My city! Why not attack Kolag? Isn’t he the person who committed the murder?”

“He’s the head of the dog pack, the Chief of the human tribe,” Gorlor explains.

I get up to my feet. “No, he’s not. I am!”

“You are shaman,” the old man insists.

“For the humans I’m grand chieftess, both the shaman and the chief! Why should Kolag’s deeds affect all the humans in the city? You did not attack the palace. The humans there are my sheep right? How is it different from the humans in the city?! The human in that city are all my sheep. They are not yours to take! Return them at once!”

This seem to baffle him for a long moment.

“They are not sheep if they serve themselves." The annoying reply comes from Balgrum. "And you left Kolag in command. That makes him chief.”

I sit down with a huff, he has a point. With the way orcs see authority, both the chief and the shaman are responsible for the tribe’s action, their actions reflect on the tribe itself. It’s a good cause for war according to their culture, at least according to the culture and linguistics lessons I’ve received from Balgrum on the way to Apricot City.

I still can’t let them enslave eighty percent of my population! I should’ve left Salik behind and taken Kolag with me… That was impossible, Salik needed glitter potions… I hope Balgrum will keep his word and release these people and we can get over it without any further bloodshed…

“Don’t!” Jerro whispers in my ear before I open my mouth again. “Instead of releasing the humans, you can enslave them. If you march the orcs to the next cities, raid them, enslave the population, more orcish tribes will gather under your banner and you’ll become an idol of war to them. You’ll achieve your goals easily, you’ll have over fifty thousand souls under your command, and your master will be impressed. The chances of failure are slim. Please! Do as I ask for once! Inara, Sharla is going to die if you don’t listen to me! I’m going to die… even Kolag might die. Please listen to me! Please!” Jerro begs me with a pleading tone.

I can’t let Sharla and Jerro die… not for my morals, it’d be like Lezere all over again… But these are hundreds of people! Enslaving them just to save my friends’ lives?! Jerro has a point… I need ten thousand souls under me, they can be slaves… it’s not like I’m going to change the world by being a benevolent queen… it’s not like these people even like me, they just worship me as a part of their twisted religion. I’m here for two years, and then I’m going to leave… I can become the shaman and lead an army of orcish tribes instead of mudding my way through ruling these damned human cities…

What about Kolag? He won’t like it… Maybe, but considering this whole situation is his fault to begin with, he won’t say a thing! But he won’t love me as much… besides… Snake what Kolag thinks! How will I be able to sleep at night? I can't do this to hundreds of people!

Easy, there are slaves everywhere around the world, only the church of Noxi opposes it… I don’t believe in Noxi, and just because I have experience as a slave doesn’t mean I should join the church of Noxi and oppose it too…

That part of my life is over, it’s time to let go of my past… I’m not a slave anymore, I’m no longer helpless, and some people in the world are less fortunate… I'm a slave to my ambitions if I let this happen! A slave to the hag, a slave to the orcs and their horrid culture, and a slave of the great "what if". I refuse to be a slave!

No. I'm no longer a slave. I made my way up with sweat and blood, but I still answer to the hag… I can’t help everyone, I can’t save everyone… If it’s simple to help, I will, but if I have to choose between me and my friends or these strangers, I choose me and my friends!

What about these hundreds of people?! I look at the slaves who gather around, eyeing the orcish gathering with eyes full of fear.

What about them? They are nothing more than pawns. Are they more important to me than Jerro and Sharla? I’m not willing to risk Jerro and Sharla like this. I can’t let them die. I cherish them both! I look back at Jerro and Sharla behind me. I can see the fear in Sharla’s eyes, she believes every word Jerro said. But it’s nothing compared to the terror on Jerro’s face. His normally lidded eyes are open wide, and his nostrils widen with each breath. This man knows for a fact that his death is near.

Ugh…

*~*~*

Interlude 125.1

Ryon

Ryon leaves the thug's camp.

He sabotaged another order of that stupid little bitch who likes to play an old cackling witch.
If only the one holding his leash never ordered him to commit to the witch's wish.
By salts and cinder he'll be free, once he finds a way the crown cannot forsee.

The humming gem that the old witch gave him hums on his thigh and disrupts his rhyme and rhythm. He touches the gem and activate the little trick. "Ya?"

"You got the bandit's to free Janara as I've asked, yes?" The old witch's voice asks in his ear, confirming what she already thinks she knows.

"Nah... bandits wanna go their way. can you gimmie a magic trick now?" He's got to keep up the street boy act, you never knows when someone's watching, when someone might be listening. He's fine if his connection to the old witch is exposed, it's not the person who truly holds his leash.

"I shall assume you have a reason for this failure, yes?"

"Nah. No reason. They didn't wanna. Too much trouble."

"Then no magic trick for you, thief." The device's mana stops flowing.

Ryon shrugs and hops ahead toward Apricot City. He has more than one horse in this race, and as a gambling man he gambled on all sides. The unfolding events can only benefits him. The chaos that will soon ensue is a chance to finally rip off his leash, and hopefully the hand holding it along with it.

But none of it will happen if little Marisha dies, and the stupid witch had been pushing a life threatening trial after another at the poor girl. If he can dance the tight rope between his real orders and the witch's orders by sticking to their very letter, he can give more chance to the little cub.

*~*~*

Transmutation: Oniga's Laundry.

Spells known:
Light: Rika's Electric Channelb1
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb1x2. Tukado's Pushb1x3. Tukado’s defense IIIb1x4. Imari’s Lesser Flightb2.

Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison. Brigit’s Skin Restoration.

Focus capability: 18 patterns.

Social status: The Queen of Red Cedar City. Shaman of the Twin Moon Tribe. Inara, Daughter of Mysteries. Apprentice to the Maven of Mysteries. Sorceress.

Personal Wealth: 1465 Magic Gems. 1420 Golden Peas, 45 Silver Scales, 32 Copper Bits.

Personal Items:
Magical necklace. Contains 100 gems of general mana, can be drained like a mana pool. It’ll recharge by itself at the rate of five gems an hour.
1 potion of lightning body.
1 potion of mana, medium grade.
2 potions of Lesser Healing.
2 potions of Pain Tolerance.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keeps the pouches’ content fresh. Each pouch may contain 10g of petals or six potion flasks.
50g Rose petals.
20g Lavender petals.
10 empty soul bottles. Glass with a diamond stopper, put in scaled leather wrapping.
The Great White Egret grimoire. Dedicated by the Maven of mysteries to Inara. 30/100. Locked.

Present Companions:
Sharlafyn Nettledew
Jerro
Kolag

Languages:
Toml’a <People’s tongue> Fluent
Sinteo <Speech> Fluent
Myrsha <Gravity> 8/10
Felul <Wind> 1/10
Nim <Water> 1/10
A'arkalu <Wolf Tongue> 3/10

Injuries and scars:

Curses: unknown extracted parasite, possibly bloodline related.

Kingdom’s treasury: 3836 gold coins. 123 magical gems.

Kingdom’s citizen: Red Cedar City: 3,881 humans, 1,836 human children.???
Apricot City: approximate 800+ humans.
Twin Moon Tribe: 1,138 orcs. 293 orc children. 529 sheep-slaves.

Kingdom's army: 1,136 Orc Warriors. 40 foot man 284 Footmen ???. 49 Peacekeeper Knights ???. 500 Blood Spears.

Notables at Court:
Tasiya Keyholder.
Jolla SilverQuill.
Talbot Bookkeeper.
Old Gardner Tiom.
Balgrum Orc Chieftain.

2023-12-18 13:35:59 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 125 in color

2023-12-18 13:35:18 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 124 colorless

Chapter 124 A Blood Test.

A lack in knowledge creates many mistakes.
A lack in knowledge leads to repeating these mistakes.
A lack in knowledge leads to poverty and a primal life.
Primal life leads to a lack in knowledge.
When a mortal concerns with food,
they do not care for knowledge.

Tukado, the Creator.

The palace is untouched for a reason I cannot fathom. The palace staff is still present although rather scared of what has been going on in the city. The treasury is also untouched.

But it none of it matters at the moment, we have a curse to cure and I have a breathing problem to solve.

Half an hour later we’re in the gardens, I summon Jolla here with the a small pile of book. I figured the dusty bookshelves and the musty scrolls of the library can risk a cough or a sneeze, and I do not want to infect anyone with this curse. Tiom, my gardner, is taking a nap away from us. The old man is sleeping under the shade of a tree, a cloth bucket hat covering his face and his long white beard juts out from under it.

I sit on the green grass near the lavender bushes, browsing my books while Jolla draws blood from my arm. Her face is covered by a metallic breathing mask. She puts me through a series of slightly uncomfortable checkups. While she busies herself with an odd set of instruments, I search in my books for any mention of the blood fae we encountered, but there’s not a single record of that creature. I can only assume it’s undocumented. The orcs sit on a bench, clearly uncomfortable in this peaceful garden, and if I didn't know better I'd say they're scared of Jolla's odd devices. It seems like the gnome had the maids bring half of her personal laboratory out here.

I listen as Jolla obsesses over my blood while she fiddles with her tools. “By Tukado’s hairy peas, this is astounding! You have a unique hormonal structure. I never seen half of these hormones before. And your dopamine is too high for a human, what in the five hells are you?”

"Can you solve my breathing problem or not?" I ask.

"If I solve your breathing problem will you answer my questions candidly?" she asks, fixing her glasses as she observes me.

I fold my hands across my chest. "If you solve my breathing problem and find out what kind of curse the orcs and I have, along with how to cure it, yes, I will. I will require you to destroy any blood sample you take from me, I'm aware how it can be used to track me."

"We have a deal then. I solve your lethal breath and the orcs bloody problem, and you answer every question I have about your unique race. I expect you to honor this deal. If you do not, you'll never get help from me again." The short gnome offers her tiny hand for a shake.

I shake her hand. "We have a deal then."

"Take a pain tolerance potion and lay down," she orders.

I obey, gulping the potion and laying down in the grass. I feel her hand on my chin, then something stings my throat, numbed by the potion. "Pha! Got the little bugger. By Tukado's beard, you're an ugly one. Don't move, girl, I'm not done yet." The sting turns into an uncomfortable prickling sensation with Jolla's firm hands against my neck, chest, and chin. "There! All done. Take a breath?"

I take a deep breath, it prickles and itches my throat, but my airways feels clear. I sit up, reaching for my throat.

Jolla pulls my hand away before my hand touch my neck. "Don't touch it or you'll rip your stitches. You'll need to let it heal naturally, a healing potion will only reverse what I just did."

"What did you do?"

"Took this slug out of your throat." She shows me a crystalline clear—most likely glass—jar. There's a fat black bug inside it, made out of a huge gland for a body and a long thin tail. The bug sucks the light out of the surrounding, darkening the bright sunny day. Jolla covers the jar with cloth and the sunlight returns to the garden. "I'll save it for my experiments if you do not mind, Your Majesty."

"Not at all, but do share your findings with me and answer my questions."

"Agreed. Now, about the..."

Jolla doesn't finish her sentence, Agilla lifts the short gnome by the scruff of her neck and bites the air in front of the gnome's nose. “No more words, kitten. Can you lift this curse or not?!”

"I'll need to take a look at your blood, girl," Jolla replies in a lecturing tone, seemingly unaffected by the fact that the brutish orc raises her like a fragile doll into the air.

"You posua'ali don't touch my blood!" Agilla declares with a growl, lifting the gnome higher.

"Put her down!" I yell.

The orc grunts and obeys my command, lips drawn in a snarl.

"I'll need to draw their blood from the orcs," Jolla says.

“Sure, go on ahead!” I wave my hand in dismissal.

“Shaman?!” Agilla’s voice sounds like a canine whine.

I raise an eyebrow, keeping the smirk away from my twitching lips. “What is it?”

She looks aside, abashed. “Don’t let this posua’ali touch me!” Agilla proceeds to cover her face with her hands, lowering it.

Shufa nods rapidly while giving the scholarly gnome an anxious glance.

“Grraah! Yomla’, ti-a’ark!” <Graaah! cowards, we wolves!> Balgrum gets up, shouting the orcs’ traditional battle-cry. He lets out a loud battle-cry as if he’s charging toward an enemy, and exposes his arm violently from his new black scaled armor. Only now do I note the large tear at the abdomen region and recoil in horror. That blade of the blood fae… the armor didn’t repel it!

Doesn’t matter. It’s dead. Just don’t trust this armor to block everything.

Jolla draws blood from Balgrum and proceed to her odd set of glass and metal devices.

"What curse is it, posua'ali?" Agilla haunches over Jolla's devices, as if looking at what the gnome does will make some sense to her.

“Oh this is no curse girl. This is a disease, a virus,” Jolla keeps fiddling with her odd devices.

I see... “Can you make a cure for that disease?” I ask.

Jolla fixes her glasses and turns to me. “I’m afraid that’ll take me months. Magic is better than science in that department, why won’t you brew yourself a cure disease potion? It should work.” She hands me a pouch. "Some dog's claws, you'll need them for the potion."

That’s all? If it’s just a cure disease potion, I can probably make it… better if there’s a spell version of it, but my grimoire is locked… “And that potion will work?”

“It should,” Jolla says quietly. She ceases noting down in her parchments, and opens my eyelid wide, forcing me to stare into a glowing piece of glass above her shoulder.

Once she lets my eye go and goes back to jot down notes, I get up. “Thanks, I’ll go look up the potion.”

“Not yet.” Jolla tugs my wrist and pulls me back to sit down. “You haven't answered all of my questions about your race, and let me finish taking blood from all the orcs too.” She focuses on the other two orcs who eye the process with visible horror on their faces. “I need to make sure they are all infected by the same bacteria. I also want to compare the effect this bacteria has on their blood to yours. You weren't infected in the same manner, and you carried that... parasite that seemingly have nothing to do with this disease.”

"Nothing to do with this disease?! Every time I coughed it made the amplified effect of that very same disease."

"Indeed. While that is correct, that parasite is a different organism all together, unrelated to the disease. This... creature was a part of you. Some sort of self defense mechanism of your body. This is why I said no healing potions. Should you take a healing potion during the next month, your throat will grow it again. Which brings me to question your race. I've never seen blood like yours. As I mentioned, you have a unique hormonal structure. You even have akeshlu, a hormone that’s unique to gnomes of all things. No other race has it. I have never seen anything like that before!"

I sigh. “I'm a part human, part elf, part fae."

Her white eyes open so wide they match the size of the glasses device on her eyes. “A quarter blood?! You’re lucky to be alive. Many quarter-bloods don’t even make it to adulthood.”

“Which kind of fae-blood is your quarter?” Jolla asks with interest.

“I honestly don’t know, but I suspect a Rakshasa…”

She nods, taking an odd metallic pen without a feather from behind her round ear and jots swiftly in her notes. “Hrm… powerful, would explain why you’ve survived. I’ve never seen a sample from a Rakshasa and I cannot confirm your theory. It also won't explain this odd parasite which I have no explanation for, to the best of my knowledge Rakshasa do not carry such parasites... By Tukado’s beard, your blood is the best riddle I’ve had in years!”

“If you ever solve it, do let me know what you find. I am in search of my blood mother.”

“Of course. You have a right to know.” She turns to her devices and put the vial of my blood through them. “Any abnormal thoughts?”

I roll my eyes in response. “If I had abnormal thoughts, I wouldn’t know they’re abnormal, right?"

"Pha! You have a point. Any desire to rule over mortals?” The gnome turns to me, narrowing her white eyes behind her glasses.

I tuck my hair out of my face in annoyance, trying my best not to touch my itching throat. “Yeah, but normal humans also have the desire to rule over mortals. I wouldn't know if my desire to rule stems from my bloodline or from my human ambitions.”

Jolla snorts. "By Tukado's beard, girl, you question your sense of existence too much for your own good. Do you need to feel superior to others? Make use of them? See them as nothing but currency to be thrown aside once their use to you is done?"

I fold my hands, both in anger and to make sure I won't attempt to touch my throat. "You're asking if I'm a monster who don't care for people's lives? Did the way I care about my friends wasn't clear enough? The way I'm trying to save Kolag from his demon? How can you even ask me these things?!"

"Yet, you kill others with disregard. You value your friends, but not human lives."

"I can say the same about many humans who would only care about their families and not the lives of strangers. I'm not King Luard if that's what you're implying. What's your point?"

She snorts. "Pha, by Tukado's hairy peas, you're a sensitive one. You have an increasingly high amount of annexilin in your blood, this hormone relate to dopamine in a…”

“Jolla. Laymen terms?”

“Pha, I should be talking to a Loremaster, but the only Loremaster around is pretending to be sleeping!" She raises her voice in Tiom's direction. The only reply she gets is loud snores. She shakes her head. "Laymen terms, fiine. Tukado helps me with you laymen types... You have a something in your blood that makes you happy and satisfied when you command or rule over others. It fits with your Rakshasa theory. You also have an odd magical phenomena in your blood. In theory you should be capable of drawing mana from the souls of those you rule. Um… you gave me the idea for the conjecture that: ambitious gnomenoid rulers may have the same chemical in their blood, which may be the motive of their power gain. But whether or not they share the same hormones with you, they do not share the negative mana receptors that tied up to it... pha Tukado's anvil, they don't share the ability to absorb mana from an adoring crowd.”

“I can confirm this. I get weird... urges whenever I give a speech to a crowd, whenever I leave a crowd in awe of me. I enjoy it at times, but it feels perverse and I do my best not to indulge myself..."

"Why not?"

"Because it's wrong. They're people, not pawns."

She nods and jots down in her parchment. "You were raised by humans I take it?"

"Yes."

"Your human common sense interferes with your true nature then. Which can be good or bad, depends on how destructive your true nature is. Assuming you are a part Rakshasa, I'll agree that it's a good thing. Not that humans do not have their own dark desires... or gnomes... Orcs however." She sneers at the orcs on the bench. "Introduced their dark desires into their culture and glorified them, it's why so many races hates them, but that is irrelevant to our discussion. Are you suffering from paranoia?”

Am I? I guess I am… But after everything I’ve been through I have a good reason to be. Then again, I’m fully trusting the people I care about, so I wouldn’t call myself paranoid either… “To a degree. But I’ve experienced things that would create a paranoia for the average human. I had to and still have to fight for my life constantly. I think it'd influence your conclusions about my blood.”

She nods in agreement. “I'm glad you're self aware enough to answer like that, even if you wouldn't admit you enjoy ruling over others. Do you have a high amount of depression?”

“No. I have no depression. Guilt and grief at time, for the people who died for me. I often use apathy as a way to cope, but I’m not depressed.”

“Insomnia?”

“No. I’ve had nightmares after bad experiences and fever, but it went back to normal rather fast.”

“Curious.” She holds my wrist and presses a finger against it. Then against the side of my neck, and another on my heart.

“Most curious. No anxiety, but very high blood pressure, no weight gain or insomnia. You have three times the amounts of cortisol and five times the amount of adrenaline compared to the average human male. Human females have an even lower amount and…”

“Laymen terms Jolla. Explain.”

“If we inject your blood into the veins of any other mortal race, they’ll die.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Isn’t that the case if you inject blood to someone’s veins anyway?”

“Not necessarily, no. Mortals may have the same blood, depending on the race. Humans, pale ones, dwarves, and orcs even share the O blood type between them, dwarves and humans share all four blood types humans possess. Humans have four major blood types, pale ones have two, dwarves have seven, three more in addition to the human ones, and orcs have three. Silioes are odd ones. They have five blood types that are unique to them. Goblins have…”

“Jolla, focus on our conversation please. I couldn't care less about goblins' blood types.”

“Bah. By Tukado's beard, girl, would it hurt you to learn something new? Regardless, your blood is nothing like I’ve seen. Goblins and Kobold are the only creatures who are getting a little close to the amount of adrenaline you have, and they aren’t intelligent. I found that high amount of adrenaline in the body turns an individual into a brainless killer, but you are not. Nor do you show any side effects of high amounts of adrenaline and cortisol. The only conclusion I can come up with that it's normal for your body.” She nods to herself “What is your diet? How much do you eat per meal? How often?”

“It depends on how much I meditate and if I have a dead magical monster on hand…”

“Ah. Irregular diet. Never mind!” she reaches for my head and moves her hands on the front part of my scalp, parting my hair.

“What are you looking for?”

“Horns.”

“Why would I have horns?”

“Pha! I cannot find any. You may be a juvenile and you will grow them in the future. It is also possible that only males of your kind may grow horns. Open your mouth.”

I roll my eyes and open my mouth. Her light device moves lower. “Your teeth should be sharper. Too much human blood. I need to look at your blood again." She turns to the glass vial of my blood and put it through her devices again.

“While you’re at it and already looking through my blood…” I shouldn’t ask… But I want to know. I need to know. “Am I infretile?”

She slaps her forehead. "By Tukado's hairy peas! I'm a fool! Forgot to ask that! I’m unsure. I’ll need more details, how old are you exactly and have you started bleeding?”

“Twenty eight… And no, no bleeding…”

“You poor thing. Must’ve been hard not knowing. Bah. It’s hard to tell because of your odd hormonal structure, and the elf blood mixed in makes it into a very difficult question. Female elves only begin to bleed when they’re ninety years old. Do you have any feelings of sexual attraction at all? Do you get wet while thinking you're in the arms of that knight of yours."

I blush. "Yes?"

She nods. "Aye, that's a good sign. It's too early to know for sure, so take my words as an assumption. If you don’t bleed by the time you’re forty five, then you are probably infertile. It’s very likely that all quarter bloods are infertile, but not enough quarter bloods survive to document such a thing. However, if you are not infertile, you can only procreate with a full blooded human. If you attempt to do with any other species, the fetus won’t survive.”

I see… so it’s only a matter of time finding out… I simply need to be patient… I don’t even want that! I shake my head. "Thanks..." And do I have to wait until I'm forty five? Do Kolag have to wait until he's over forty for this too? If we even solve the demon problem by then... And it's not like our current state is great to raise children... We aren't even married, why am I even thinking about this?! I have bigger things to worry about right now...

I sigh, shaking my head to chase my thoughts away. "Any more questions for me? Or can I go brew that potion now?"

"None. You also do not need that potion yourself, girl, this parasite sucked all of the bacteria out of your bloodstream, you are no longer sick. The orcs do need it though."

"Alright, let's get to it then..."

*~*~*

Interlude 124.1

Nolkum Marvu.

Marvu listened to everything the little drow had to tell him about Queen Inara.

Freezing an entire street of men and breaking them apart like toys. Setting an entire unit of men on fire after blinding them. He'd normally call it tall tales, no sorcerer should be this powerful, but the account of his own men matched everything the drow had said. If anything, it felt as if his own men were the ones who were exaggerating about her powers.

While sorcerers could do these feats, most sorcerers were limited to a single element, some had two. Inara had demonstrated the usage of four, and according to the drow she has more than seven elements under her command. Sorcerers like her aren't common, not in the Gray Isles at least. While he heard tales of powerful ones in distant lands, he never encountered one such as this. The matriarchs of his clutch were more powerful than sorcerers, but he left his clutch for a good reason.

To add to her power there was the carnivorous horse who ignored sharp weapons as if its skin is made of stone. While such monsters were common in the wilds, he never encountered a tame one.

The only good news from the drow was that Inara had mistaken Captain Silde for Marvu himself and believes he's currently dead.

"Ya. She think ye dead," the drow shouts with a nod, chewing his chicken wing loudly enough that the sucking noises are audible for Marvu's faulty ears.

Marvu's scales shift into scheming purple. That means that Marvu is in an excellent position to strike. He's an unknown quality to the queen. "Anything else you can tell me about her? Does she have any enemies?" he asks the drow.

"Oh ya. Enemy queen phoebe. Hates her. Wanna kill her bad." The drow pauses to try and rip small bits of meat off the chicken wing. "She prisoner of that Tiara girl, they chopped her arms and legs like this! Wooosh!" The drow makes a fast cutting motion with his hand.

Marvu's hopeful cyan scales turn into disappointed dark blue. "That is useless information. If that enemy is permanently neutralized, there's not much I can get from her."

"Nah. I have de trick to heal her hands and legs, but keep it a secret! Inara can't know!" The drow shouts the word louder even in Marvu's faulty ears as if the fact he's here isn't a secret to begin with. Marvu had never met such an odd fellow. The drow continues. "You rescue her from Tiara girl, I heal her. Got a message for her from boss lady."

"Boss lady? Inara?"

The drow shakes his head. "Nah. The old boss lady. The one who goes gigigigigigigigi. She a scary mage you don't say no to."

Marvu scales shift into multiple colors before settling on suspicious brown. Who does this drow serve? He's clearly here on another one of Inara's enemies behalf. The enemy of my enemy is a helpful distraction that allows you to strike. It seems that Marvu is to become the distraction for that "old boss lady" to strike. The drow isn't even try to play him, which is oddly refreshing. Yet again, who's to say what the drow doesn't tell him, his kind is known for their scheming nature.

The conclusion is simple. Marvu wants nothing to do with it. Inara doesn't know of his existence, and it'd be best to keep it that way. Marvu will forget his grudges for now in order to live and to avoid whatever schemes the drow is trying to involve him with. But Marvu has a long memory, if there's a chance to strike, he'll take it. For now...

Marvu steps out of his tent, scales flickering. "Alright, men. There's no profit to be made here. We venture south! I heard there's a new queen to the south, her armies shall rue the day we arrive in her land! I promise you'll all be rich men with plenty of slaves!"

The men don't cheer this time, too many were lost in the skirmishes with Inara's forces. His scales shift to angry red. Curse Silde, the man should've never disobeyed his orders! He told him not to engage.

As for the drow, it's best if he kept him near Queen Inara. It'd be useful to have intel on her movement, and he'll get an early warning should she ride south to conquer new lands.

*~*~*

Transmutation: Oniga's Laundry.

Spells known:
Light: Rika's Electric Channelb1
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb1x2. Tukado's Pushb1x3. Tukado’s defense IIIb1x4. Imari’s Lesser Flightb2.

Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison. Brigit’s Skin Restoration.

Focus capability: 18 patterns.

Social status: The Queen of Red Cedar City. Shaman of the Twin Moon Tribe. Inara, Daughter of Mysteries. Apprentice to the Maven of Mysteries. Sorceress.

Personal Wealth: 1465 Magic Gems. 1420 Golden Peas, 45 Silver Scales, 32 Copper Bits.

Personal Items:
Magical necklace. Contains 100 gems of general mana, can be drained like a mana pool. It’ll recharge by itself at the rate of five gems an hour.
1 potion of lightning body.
1 potion of mana, medium grade.
2 potions of Lesser Healing.
2 potions of Pain Tolerance.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keeps the pouches’ content fresh. Each pouch may contain 10g of petals or six potion flasks.
50g Rose petals
20g Lavender petals
10 Glass with a diamond stopper, put in scaled leather wrapping.
The Great White Egret grimoire. Dedicated by the Maven of mysteries to Inara. 30/100. Locked.

Present Companions:
Sharlafyn Nettledew
Jerro

Languages:
Toml’a <People’s tongue> Fluent
Sinteo <Speech> Fluent
Myrsha <Gravity> 8/10
Felul <Wind> 1/10
Nim <Water> 1/10
A'arkalu <Wolf Tongue> 3/10

Injuries and scars:

Curses: unknown extracted parasite, possibly bloodline related.

Kingdom’s treasury: 3836 gold coins. 123 magical gems.

Kingdom’s citizen: Red Cedar City: 3,881 humans, 1,836 human children.???
Apricot City: approximate 800+ humans.
Twin Moon Tribe: 1,138 orcs. 293 orc children. 529 sheep-slaves.

Kingdom's army: 1,136 Orc Warriors. 40 foot man 284 Footmen ???. 49 Peacekeeper Knights ???. 500 Blood Spears.

Notables at Court:
Tasiya Keyholder.
Jolla SilverQuill.
Talbot Bookkeeper.
Marasi Chef extraordinaire (spymaster.) ?
Old Gardner Tiom.
Balgrum Orc Chieftain.

2023-12-14 14:14:35 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 124 in color

2023-12-14 14:14:30 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 123 colorless

Chapter 123 A Curse.

I’m a curse, a malady!
I haunt your waking hours with dread,
Yes, you're correct, I'm only in your head!
I’m here to stay, I won’t go away.
For my ire you shall pay!
You are cursed you foul sod.

Mayan, the Ocean Fairy.

The world is red and hazy, it keeps spinning and shaking. I hear men shouting nearby. I attempt to sit up, and cough instead. This starts a coughing chain that ends with a metallic taste in my mouth. I turn on my side and vomit blood. I did receive the same curse as the orcs, only it works slower on me.

Where am I? I look around at what seems to be wooden walls. Feverish, I get up to my feet and stumble toward the only door in the small room. The door opens and Sharla enters. “You need to rest!” She guides me back to the bed.

"Taking care of me in my sickbed again, Sharla?"

She chuckles and tucks the cover over my feverish body. "Of course, Mistress."

“Where are we?”

“On a ship, headed for Red Cedar City. Salik told me to assure you that he’ll bring order to Apricot City. You need to focus on getting better, you need to rest. We think it’s physical exertion that triggers the curse. Every time one of the orcs gets out of bed and do too much physical activity, they find themselves with blood pouring out of their eyes.” She grins madly, the edges of her lips almost crossing the border of what a human mouth would be capable of reaching in a smile. “They’re quite frustrated about it.”

“What about my belt and books?” My ectoplasm bottles! And the head of that monster in my belt! I hope they didn’t clean my belt…

“I’ve brought everything with us. Your books are in the drawer.” She points at a nearby night table which is nailed to the wall. “And your belt is intact, no one touched it.” Phew... “This is the captain’s quarters, he had to part with them,” she continues. “You can read, but try not to move too much. And avoid using magic or meditating for now, we don’t know whether it’ll trigger the curse or not.”

“It won’t,” I reply. “If it did, I’d be dead by now, thanks.”

I get Sharla to cook the brain of the monster and mix it into a normal meal. I eat the salted fish, trying not to think too much about the odd bitter taste that's mixed in it. I then gulp down all of my soul bottles. Considering the soul of the Marili serpent still haven’t left my system, I’m brimming with mana. I feel as if I add just a little bit more I’d explode with wild violent magic. It feels as if something is stuck in my neck-bridge mana pool, like the way for more foreign mana into my body is blocked. I have to absorb it all somehow before I drink any more souls. I also have to unlock my grimoire if I am to have any chance at finding a curse breaking spell.

Meditation first.

I enter a deep trance and absorb the mana from my veins.

I wake up from my trance, I can't sink into a middle meditation with the odd effects in my body and the blockage in my neck-bridge pool.

I float my grimoire to me, and eye the single glowing gem in a series of seven and the large egret that eyes me with familiar golden eyes. I only have to master five spells... why are there seven gems? She probably have some questionable plans for later when I research more spells... I'll have to be careful what spells I pick... I can't just use this book as a shortcut to all of my problems anymore... I'll have to focus on spells with good usage to them...

Let's focus on mastering gravity cantrips... it is my strongest affinity, and I don't want to drench this cabin in water...

How do I even start? Repulse? Pull? Light and heavy weight? Orbiter? The shield have layers of strength... but how can it be mastered? I need to pick one... and I should pick it by what's useful to me... The shield is the one I use the most, I think... Even if the orbiter is more effective as protection because it does not restrict my movements... I want to master both.

The shield have higher layers that block energy... But I doubt mastering the lower cantrip ranks of the shield will block energy... Maybe it'd allow me to stay mobile while shielding myself? Maybe another feature I didn't think of... I could try casting the shield and moving it... what if I could move the shield with my mind? What if I could make this shield into a wall shaped barrier instead of the bubble shaped around me?

"Myrsha samir." <Gravity protects.> I cast. The bubble flickers around me, and for the next five seconds I try to stretch and move it to no avail. "Myrsha samir." <Gravity protects.> I cast again, adding extending patterns this time to give myself more time to stretch the thing.

I keep trying until I run out of mana, then I turn to meditation. I alternate between long meditations and my attempts at mastering the 'Lesser Shield' cantrip.

{28} Brigit (August) the 6th

I fully connect the water mana pool. The abundance of mana in my blood is pure ecstasy barely contained by my meditation. The moment I connect the water mana pool however, the odd feeling in my neck-bridge mana pool intensifies. I gasp for air, but air enters my lungs in a very limited fashion, as if something partially blocks my windpipe. My heartbeat quickens, the panic doesn't help my strained breath. I stumble to my feet and run toward the cabin's door.

"Mistress, you need to rest!" Sharla calls out behind me, but I ignore her.

I open the door and stagger out into the fresh air. I take a deep breath, filling my lung with much needed air. Hot acid lurches in my throat, threatening to spill out the content of my stomach.

"Your Majesty? Are you alright?" an elderly sailor asks with concern on his uneven face. His long white hair is held in a blue bandana and falls down on his blue overcoat in unkempt clumps.

"I'm fi..." *Cough cough*

*COUGH!!!*

I cover my mouth, but the acid doesn't care much about my hand as it leaves my lips. While it surely felt acidic in my throat, it doesn't hurt the skin of my palm. It's not even liquid like it felt.

A cloud of scarlet particles finds its way between my fingers, hitting the wide eyed elderly sailor directly in the face. I watch in horror as blood sprouts out of all of his orifices, all at once, and after time that feels like a long hour but can't have been more than five seconds, he leaves a skinny husk on the ship's deck. Just the left over of his skin, resting like a wet bloodied rag. No bones. No skull. No flesh. Just a skin. Snakes! I'm contagious. I didn't get it as bad as the others, but I can pass it to others! Snakes! Snakes!

"Sharlafynwynyeslun. I told you that the Queen is not allowed to leave the cabin." Jerro's cold voice jolts me.

I take a few steps back from him, too afraid to breathe, and it's hard to breathe, really hard to breathe, the large lump in my throat blocks half of my airway. I lean on the railing and turn my head toward the river at my side. I can't risk anyone with my lethal breath, especially not Jerro or Sharla. I cough freely toward the river, letting out all the crimson particles out of my throat.

"She just ran out, I couldn't stop her!" Sharla protests.

"This man. Alimor, son of Sihar. His death is on your hands Sharlafynwynyeslun," Jerro states without a hint of emotion in his voice. "He is innocent."

"Is that supposed to mean anything, weird human? I do not care for your god's ledger and mortals' lives are pea a dozen to me." I hear her voice closing in behind me.

I cough another cloud of red blood particles toward the river water. "Sharla, don't get any closer! I'm contagious!"

"Shush you, you can't harm me." She places her hand on my shoulder. "Cough in my face, I'll prove it!"

"Are you snowy mad?! No!"

She turns my head to face hers with her right hand on my chin, her left presses on the odd lump in my throat, stimulating it into an unbearable itch. The cough follows before I manage to shake my head out of her hold, her fae fragile face and the upper section of her autumn dress are covered by these dark red particles, but as she promised, it doesn't harm her.

"I knew it!" she exclaims excitedly.

"You weren't sure?!" Is she insane?!

"I was quite sure, but not sure sure? Like there's always a chance to be wrong, hm? But I'm right."

I sigh and shake my head. "But the others, they aren't safe around me."

"The humans? No, they're not. At least not until you get your breath under control..."

I glance at the rest of the sailors who are all standing around with a mix of fear and awe on their faces. At least someone had the sense to fold the sails and anchor the ship. Great! This is just great! "Did this also happen to Balgrum and Agilla? They need to be isolated."

"This did not happen to the orcs and it will not happen to the orcs," Jerro states, keeping a respectable distance from me.

"Why? We got hit by the same bloody thing!"

"I do not know," the prophet answers. "All I know is that I saw it happening to you, but not to them. They'll remain weakened for a while, and all three will die within a week."

"And if we can find something to remove this curse?"

He leans on his cane like an old man despite his young features. "Then then all three will die within a year? But, that is unclear, a lot changes. Seek Jolla Silverquill in Red Cedar, she can help."

"I was heading for Jolla anyway... thank you, Jerro."

He nods curtly. "Now please return to the cabin or this ship won't sail."

I take a gulp of fresh air. I feel so much better, the feverish feeling in my body is gone entirely, as if the odd lump in my throat took away my curse and transformed it into the ability to infect people instead. I don't feel weak anymore, and if my guess correctly, I wouldn't bleed with physical exertion, but it's not something I wish to test. I also no longer feel like I'm going to choke to death after I emptied my throat of whatever those red particles were, but the odd lump is still there, blocking a small part of my windpipe.

With a sigh, I return to the cabin. Why didn't the captain of this ship fixed a snaking window in his rotten cabin?!

Since I'm too worried to meditate, I spend the rest of my time trying to master the 'Lesser Shield' cantrip. Instead of simply trying to shape the barrier, I cast the spell and have sharla push an object against it. I attempt to use the object's weight to shape the barrier around it. To create a hole, to let the object in. After a long day of trying, I finally manage to create a hole in the barrier.

Excited, I cast the spell near the grimoire and create holes in my barrier, but the second gem doesn't light up. Annoyed I turn back to try and shape my barrier. I create a vertical hole large enough to split the barrier into two halves. Once that's done I focus on a single half and attempt to shape it into a barrier wall. That takes me another day of practice and pushing myself.

I manage a curved wall, but the gem in the book doesn't light up yet.

On the last day of the dubious voyage, my frustration gets to me, and I do not manage to achieve a single thing.

My breathing has improved during the last three days. I can control my coughing, however, if I do not let these odd particles out of my throat at least once a day, they'll wreak havoc on my throat. Every night I leave the cabin and cough at the river, waking up the terrified sailors.

After three days of torment, we arrive at Red Cedar City.

{28} Brigit (August) the 9th

I stand on the deck, leaning on the railing with my back to the worried sailors and my friends. I can't risk anyone with an accidental cough.

"Call Jolla to see me on the ship. I don't want Balgrum and his orcs to leave either." I order Jerro.

"Your Grace?" I hear one of the sailors behind me. "We... we would prefer if you left the ship, Your Grace. We want to sail away."

"No. There's a city full of people and I'm not going to risk anyone."

"There aren't any people, Your Grace," the sailor replies.

I turn sharply. "What do you mean there aren't any people?!"

The sailors take a few terrified steps back, many of them have their faces covered in rough cloth. "The s-streets are empty, Your G-Grace," the lead sailor says in a shaky voice.

"He is correct," Jerro notes coldly. "The streets seem to be abandoned."

"Grah! Let's go Shaman! One more day on this fish pot and I vomit!" Balgrum exclaims from the gangplank.

I turn, and the sailors part away, afraid of me. The docks are indeed empty. Not a single living soul. Ok... I emptied my throat earlier... I should be able to control my cough... something here is horribly wrong, and I need to check what happened to the people... I also need Jolla's help... I should let these poor sailors go their way...

"Thank you, captain. I apologize for your sailor, I did not know I carried this curse with me." I apologize to the man who seems to be the leader of the sailors.

"Your Grace, the man you killed was the captain. I'm Jaril, the first mate. I don't own this ship, it belongs to Captain Laros' family up in Tolste's bay now, I have to sail it north."

"I... I see. Apologies."

He nods slowly. "Nothing can be done when your dice fall on Rakisha's eyes." The sailors around him nod, snort, and one of them even snarl toward me, an orc.

Helplessly, I step off the boat with my small entourage of Balgrum, Agilla, Shufa, Jerro, and Sharla. I do my very best not to breathe too hard. I head toward the palace. The city is oddly quiet, I can’t see a single soul on the earthy streets. The door to every house is broken or open, a lot of odd household objects clatter the road as if were thrown there in a hurry. There are a few blood stains, and it takes a minute before I spot the first corpse of a young man.

I crouch near the corpse to examine it. His chest had been hacked by what must've been a large axe.

*Splash* A streak of red makes me jump in alarm and cover my mouth. I let my guard down when I recognize the reddish patch on the ground as a rotten tomato, another one gets repelled by the invisible barrier around my armor. A pair of teenagers on the nearest rooftop run away. Balgrum growls, his hand glides over his axe and he sniffs the air like an odd dog.

What’s going on here?! Where's Kolag?! "Jerro? What happened here?" I ask my prophet.

"I do not know," he answers, smoothing his stained gray shirt. "I can see the future, not the past."

"We need answers, let's see if we can find them in the palace." I step onward. A few streets ahead, I find an orc sitting on a crate, biting into a raw chicken leg.

“What’s going on here?” I ask the orc, my voice rises in pitch. “Where are all the people?!”

“They sheep now,” he says, lifting up his chin with pride. The blood from the chicken trails down his chin and neck.

“What?!”

He snarls. “The sick dogs thought we wolfes weak!”

“Balgrum?” I ask the chief behind me.

“Grrrr… I left strict orders. Where is Gorlor?”

“Home, Chief.”

“And where is Kolag?!” I ask.

“With elder Gorlor, Shaman,” comes the indifferent reply.

“Not very happy I assume. I’m headed to the palace, make sure both Gorlor and Kolag know we’re here!”

“Slu a’ark!” <___ wolf!> Balgrum barks. The orc lifts his chin again and leaves. “Grrr… I don’t like this, smells wrong and I’m cursed,” Balgrum mutters under his breath.

“You and me both… can you order the tribe to release my people?” I ask worriedly.

“Yes, but I won’t.”

“Why not?”

Balgrum lowers his head. He covers his forehead and eyes with his thick ebony hand. “I won’t!”

“Balgrum is weak, cursed, another wolf kill him, become chief.” The explanation comes from Agilla behind me.

That makes sense, someone would challenge his authority, and that would result in a duel. “I see… let’s figure a way to solve this curse first then. Will you order the orcs to release my people if you’re in a better condition?”

“Grrrr… yes.”

*~*~*

Interlude 123.1

Marasi

Marasi boards the human skiff. The massive boat is too large for him and the river waves splashes into the boat on occasion. This is bad for his heart. Very bad for his heart! The orcs are rioting in the city behind him, the humans are screaming for help. Marasi can’t stay here, oh no he can’t! He’ll take the risk of drowning, the luck of his goddess will protect him.

Time to find employment in another city. Surely a nice king or queen is willing to employ a humble elfling cook. He’ll search for his luck down the river. His luck won’t fail him, it never did!

The skiff gets dragged by the slow current, the wind blow up his hair, and the sun is setting at the distance. What a day to be alive! His new adventure awaits!

Marasi spends a day on the river. After taking his time to rest and eat, he treats his boredom by composing a song or two.

There is a foolish spider queen

Angry, loud, and mean.

Her brain is big as a bean.

I only wish she had a smart twin.

Oh Koshavi you’re so fickle

Smiling at us in a pickle

Lady of skies, lady love

Always watching from above

Oh my mistress lady luck

To you I offer a duck and a buck

After a day or two, when the songs can no longer treat his bordom, Marasi spots a ship sailing up the river. Marasi squints in an attempt to read the flag. A black horse over a red field, the queen’s personal banner. Hopefully, they won’t notice him.

He jumps back and forth with the oar in hand, he rows the boat, counting on his luck. The ship passes through. He got out just in time! He’s lucky today, he won’t have to face that mad queen. He giggles maniacally and keeps singing bad songs while rowing the boat up the river.

*~*~*

Transmutation: Oniga's Laundry.

Spells known:
Light: Rika's Electric Channelb1
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb1x2. Tukado's Pushb1x3. Tukado’s defense IIIb1x4. Imari’s Lesser Flightb2.

Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison. Brigit’s Skin Restoration.

Focus capability: 18 patterns.

Social status: The Queen of Red Cedar City. Shaman of the Twin Moon Tribe. Inara, Daughter of Mysteries. Apprentice to the Maven of Mysteries. Sorceress.

Personal Wealth: 1465 Magic Gems. 1420 Golden Peas, 45 Silver Scales, 32 Copper Bits.

Personal Items:
Magical necklace. Contains 100 gems of general mana, can be drained like a mana pool. It’ll recharge by itself at the rate of five gems an hour.
1 potion of lightning body.
1 potion of mana, medium grade.
2 potions of Lesser Healing.
3 potions of Pain Tolerance.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keeps the pouches’ content fresh. Each pouch may contain 10g of petals or six potion flasks.
10 Empty soul bottles. Glass with a diamond stopper, put in scaled leather wrapping.
The Great White Egret grimoire. Dedicated by the Maven of mysteries to Inara. 30/100. Locked.

Present Companions:
Sharlafyn Nettledew
Jerro

Languages:
Toml’a <People’s tongue> Fluent
Sinteo <Speech> Fluent
Myrsha <Gravity> 8/10
Felul <Wind> 1/10
Nim <Water> 1/10
A'arkalu <Wolf Tongue> 3/10

Injuries and scars: ???

Curses: ???

Kingdom’s treasury: 3836 gold coins. 123 magical gems. ???

Kingdom’s citizen: Red Cedar City: 3,881 humans, 1,836 human children.???
Apricot City: approximate 800+ humans.
Twin Moon Tribe: 1,138 orcs. 293 orc children. 529 sheep-slaves.

Kingdom's army: 1,136 Orc Warriors. 40 foot man 284 Footmen ???. 49 Peacekeeper Knights ???. 500 Blood Spears.

Notables at Court:
Tasiya Keyholder. ?
Jolla SilverQuill. ?
Talbot Bookkeeper. ?
Marasi Chef extraordinaire (spymaster.) ?
Old Gardner Tiom. ?
Balgrum Orc Chieftain.

2023-12-11 15:36:24 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 123 in color

2023-12-11 15:35:54 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 122 colorless

Chapter 122 The Bloody Aftermath.

Do not shy away from blood.
Do not shy away from guts.
It is a part of killing, a part of war.
Once you’ve accepted the blood and guts.
Only then you are a true warrior.
And remember, your inside is the exact same.

Nuriss, the Maiden of War.

I drag the three unconscious orcs toward the wine cellar. Since they’re all floating, I don’t need to lift them, but once I get to the wine cellar I have to be more creative.

“Myrsha kalfit.” <Gravity lightweight> I take a minute for each orc, reduce their weight to a minimum, pile them together, and use ‘Minor Telekinesis’ to carry them all, draining mana from my necklace at an alarming rate. I drop the orcs on the grimy stone stairs away from the blood. The worm infested corpses on the stairs don’t make me feel better about their safety, but spending all of my mana just to get the orcs out of this place is a bad idea nonetheless. I turn Balgrum on his back and check his muscular abdomen for the gaping wound he received below. My hands drenched in gore and blood, I shove his intestines back inside his stomach and spill a healing potion on the wound. I only let out a sigh of relief when the wound visibly close.

Now let's just hope he survives whatever is in that damned blood...

I run up the stairs to look for Salik and his men. I can hear the fighting as I draw near the palace's entrance, and once I pass through the massive bronze doors, all I find in the corpse littered garden is utter chaos.

Men fighting amidst the gory skinned corpses that the blood fae left out here to rot in the sun. Men bashing each other with every weapon I could dream of, bestial expressions etched across their faces. My eyes focus on a large dark haired man with wide blue eyes, hammering a skull into a pulp on the ground. His hammer strike down again and again. A massive green horse bites the man by the neck and flings him around like a dog's chewing toy. Loyal...

“For Marvu!” “Kill these bastards!” The battlecries register in my numb ears. I notice that most of the red spears gang under Ovin and Salik's command form a messy shield wall around the stairs that lead into the palace, fending off a ragtag of bandits with a wide array of weaponry.

Unlike the men, Loyal is in the midst of the thugs army. They surround him, multiple spears, pitchforks, halberds, and arrows are stuck to his skin with a few actually stabbed into it. But my horse is still fighting. He’s kicking and biting wildly at anyone who gets too close. His adhesive tail whips around and drags men beneath his rear hoofs. His wild movements across the battle catches the weapons that get stuck to his skin. Loyal is most likely the reason the Red Spears did not get overwhelmed in here.

On the staircase right near the entrance I find Zoe. She's unconscious, blood trailing out of her nose and eyes. Mana dehydration. I recognize the symptoms. I know it might lead to blindness and possibly death, but I can't do much about it right now.

“Did you deal with the creature inside?” Salik shouts at me from the front, a shield tied up to his metallic hook. He swings his axe in a steady way that seems tame after I’ve seen orcs swinging axes. His axe is also much smaller compared to the monstrous ones the orcs carry around, a single small head of metal that I could probably swing myself with ease.

“It’s dead!” I shout back. "Balgrum and two of his orcs will need to be carried out of there, send someone to fetch them! I'll take care of this mess."

He nods, and I step forward, making my way between my men. They are all taller than me, and the shields rattle as clubs and sharp weapons batter them over and over. “Open the shields,” I order.

“Are you sure, Your Grace? They have Iron,” Lepp Strongarm to my left asks.

“Actually just open the shield a bit, like you would for an archer!” I shout.

They do. I aim my hand at the opening without poking my hand out, I do not want to lose it. “Kushjak!” <Oil!> I channel all of the earth mana I haven’t used into the opening. A spray of oil exits and covers the thugs behind the shield wall. The struggle over the shield wall gets more violent.

"Tans fe-lasiuak." <Loud words.>

“Lower shields!” I order. “Revisor ak!” <Light strong!> The blinding flash leave both sides dazed. “Folo fotyr.” <flying fire.> my fiery breath ignites the thugs who are covered in oil. The spreading fire also catch onto the clothes of some of the Red Spears and their shields. They retreat up the stairs in a hurry, leaving me amidst the burning thugs who flail around, screaming desperately.

"AAAAAAHHH MOTHER!!" One of them lets out a scream that sends a chill down my spine, making me all too aware of the fact that I'm burning men to death. The stench of burned meat mixes with the odors of rotting flesh and blood and the acid in my throat threatens to come out.

The other men of Marvu's Raiders back off from the flaming patch in their army. Some fall down while others simply take their distance and raise their shields to block the intense heat.

I let go of my 'Increase Voice' spell. “Myrsha samir” <Gravity protects> My orange bubble flickers into existence, blocking the multiple arrows flying my way, I’m not surprised to see the black reddish iron heads getting deflected from my shield.

“Revisor ak!” <Light strong!> another blinding flash. "Kalidor." A pair of wooden shields float to me and circle me protectively, jumping to block arrows for me. “Fotyr folo!” <Firefly!> I duplicate four fiery bolts that form on burning men in front of me. I send the the 'Fireflies' toward the archers who panic and roll on the ground to put out the flames.

This is enough to scatter them. Most of them turn back and run, while a few remains. Some are still screaming, more focused on their attempts to extinguish the flames. Some of them even kneel with their hands on their napes, yelling that they surrender.

“Cowards! Stand up and fight!” A man with a ginger beard shouts, from atop his horse. He impales one of the thugs who attempts to escape with a long lance. I guess that's Marvu then... just a useless idiotic bandit that this blood fae used as a cover...

Before I can turn my magic on the bandits' leader, Loyal—who is no longer surrounded—charges from the side and bites into the man’s neck. My carnivore horse thrashes his head around while holding onto the man, then throw the lifeless corpse at my feet. “Nighhhh!” Loyal licks his bloody lips with a long black tongue, looking at me with glittering green eyes.

“Good job, Loyal!” I say, patting his bloodied head. I’ve never done anything to earn this horse’s loyalty, but I will do my best to keep it.

My men cheer as the thugs scatter. I turn back to see Salik and five of his men carrying the three unconscious orcs. It’s finally over.

{28} Brigit (August) the 4th

The weird curse on the orcs is something that keeps me busy for the rest of that day. I’ve come to care about Balgrum as one of my own. Not to mention that without him, I have no idea if I’ll be able to control the orcish tribe.

I research high and low, go through all of my books, ask Jerro, Sharla, and Salik. But to no avail, there aren’t any answers.

The only similar case of this curse are people in the city, and the only gang that remotely cares about people are the fishermen. But when someone showed these symptoms, they locked them up in a storehouse until they die. Investigating that horrific storage house doesn’t yield any results either, there are no known cure for this curse.

If there’s no cure I’ll have to make one! Why didn’t this curse affect me? Maybe something in my blood that’s different? This curse is obviously related to blood? Maybe it’s the fae part, maybe fae are immune to curses from other fae? Sharla did mention that vampires don’t feed on other fae… It’d make sense because by every other explanation I should be laying down bleeding from my eyes…

There isn’t a potion that fix curses… and my grimoire is still locked... I'll need to open it somehow...

I ponder as I make my way back to my camp. “Inara, they woke up.” Salik welcomes me back at the camp with a smile on his face.

“What?! Take me there!”

Salik leads me toward the other side of the camp.

In a clearing amidst the blue tents, Agilla and Shufa are sparring unarmed and without most of their clothes. Balgrum watches the two silently. He sits on a boulder, chewing his thumb at the edge of his mouth. He grins with a mouth full of sharp teeth when I approach. "Ah Shaman Inara. We hunted a great prey together! We have a worthy tale for the hall of bones, the bone chieftess will be proud."

I smile. He's ok... Good...“Balgrum. Are you ok?” Now let's just hope this thing is truly over...

“Grrrrrrr told you to stop the human sympathy, shaman. I’m fine. Healthy as a young wolf.”

Agilla and Shufa drop to the ground, spasming, blood pouring out of their orifices. At least the blood volumes aren’t as high as the orcs who died back in the cave. Salik orders the human soldiers to carry the orcs back to bed. The soldiers hesitate, wrapping their hands and covering their faces in cloth before obeying the order.

“Sakra’a La’aoko” <Bone grand-chieftess> Balgrum utters, it sounds like a curse word.

Rotten snakes! What am I going to do about this?! I cross my hands. “Healthy as a young wolf, huh? I don’t think so. Go to bed Balgrum.”

“Grrrr I’m fine!”

“You’re not fine, you’re sick. I’m the shaman, I’m responsible for healing, right? So you do as I say when it comes to healing, go to bed!”

“Grrrrraagh!” He gets up and follows the pairs of soldiers who are carrying Agilla and her friend. “Bring me some of that booze!” he demands from one of my soldiers.

“No alcohol! Just rest.” I call after him. He roars angrily and kicks one of the pegs holding a nearby tent. The tent’s side lifts off in the summer wind and Zoe’s screams comes from the inside.

The only way I’m going to find a cure for this curse is going back to Red Cedar. This is beyond my abilities, I’ll need Jolla’s help and the book about dark winter fae to figure out this curse…

I also need to import food to Apricot City, and get this place in order… and there are the remnant of Marvu’s raiders to take care off as well… This is a headache… I should get Ovin and Salik to take care of the raiders… maybe Zoe can join them, it’ll be a good experience for her… ready or not, she’ll want in on this… At least she recovered from her mana dehydration... according to the book one can lose their eyesight from this...

“Zoe! Come out of there. Where is Ovin?”

“But I’m not wearing anything!”

Does this girl spend all of her time being naked? I enter the tent with a sigh.

Her tent is a mess. Clothes are strewn about on the blue carpet. The ground near a folding chair is littered with cut brown curls. Her bed is disorganized and a few or her items are lying about.

“Where’s Ovin?” I ask.

“Meditating in his tent. Can you get someone to fix that?! Who knocks a girl’s tent down like that?!” Zoe stands near the washbasin, holding a sheet to her chest. She eyes the untied edge of the tent as if it’s a snake coming to life.

I close my eyes, hold the edge of the tent with one ‘Minor Telekinesis’ and use a ‘Repulse’ to knock in the stake back in. My fine control over this had improved a lot… I remember when I couldn’t do that… back with Sina… Lezere… I wish she was here… “There. All fixed,” I declare.

“Thanks, Master! Can you teach me how to do that?”

“Gravity magic, open your gravity mana pool first…” I reply with a grin. My feelings toward her are weird, a mix of disdain and patronage, mixed in with envy and friendliness. “Are you alright? Mana dehydration can give you some nasty headaches..."

She nods. "Thanks, Master. I'm fine. It's a little like a bad hangover? A little worse... but nothing too bad. I... I was seeing really blurry earlier and I got really scared, but I'm seeing fine now, so it was only temporary."

I sigh. "It'd be hypocritical of me to tell you and be careful with drawing too much. I do that all the time... Just try not to die or lose your eyes, ok?"

She grins. "Yes, Master. Thank you for not giving me a lecture like Salik just did..."

I smile back at her. "He cares..." No he doesn't. He's simply toying with the poor girl. "At least I hope he does? I thought you hated him.”

She blushes and averts her gaze to her finger nails, then remembers she’s naked and starts getting dressed. “Yeah… he’s not the way I thought he’d be, he’s amazing! Gives me the winds and he’s really really good with his hands, even if he just have one hand, like two days ago he…”

No thank you… “When I want such details, I’ll ask.” I cut her short. “What made you change your mind about him?”

“Other than the fact that he fought and lost his hand to defend my home, and that he saved my sister from certain death or worse? He’s kind, and gentle, and caring, and I love him!” she declares breathlessly as she fixes her corset.

Oh great… she’s butterfly in the wind for him… she’s going to get hurt… “You know he’s simply toying with you, right? He’ll move to the next girl that catches his eye soon enough…”

“No, he won’t, he loves me! We’re going to marry and…”

I fold my hands. “Zoe! Salik is over ninety years old, he never married a girl and never will. Why do you think he’ll marry you?”

She blushes and turns her back to me dressing up slowly. “Because what we have is special and…”

I roll my eyes. “What you have is snaking. Eventually, he’ll leave, and you’ll get hurt.”

"You think so?" She flinches and close her eyes for a long moment. "I should probably leave him first, that way I won't get hurt... but for now... and..." She stutters and sits down. "No. You’re just jealous!” she accuses me, her chin raised.

“No, I’m not! I have Kolag, why would I be jealous?”

She smirks and gets up, dusting her skirts from dirt that isn’t there. “You don’t love Kolag. You love Salik! I can see how you look at him.”

“You’re crazy! Salik is like a big brother to me. You want to get hurt with him, be my guest.” I shout as I leave her tent.

“Oh wait. You were already with him and he broke your heart! I knew it!” She calls after me.

I ignore her and head out. I meet Salik’s eyes right outside her tent, I forgot he was following me around the camp, and probably heard the whole conversation. “Come…” I say in an attempt to ignore the heat on my face. I make my way toward Ovin’s tent.

He follows me in silence.

“Why are you toying with her feelings like that?” I ask him as we walk.

“I thought you didn’t like her,” he says quietly.

I raise an eyebrow. “Am I that obvious?”

He snorts, fiddling with his axe. “She’s a noisy brat who thinks she knows everything there’s to know about the world, she’s not easy to like.”

“So you’re being petty?”

He lifts the brim of his straw hat and look me in the eye. “Not at all.”

“Then why?!” I ask, peering into his brown eyes for answers.

“I’ve been feeling lonely lately, and a girl to warm my bed at night is just what the healer ordered…” He laughs mirthlessly. “She’s gorgeous, and she’s the only available girl around.”

“I’m sure Sharla will sleep with you if you pay or talk her into it. She’ll take any form you want, and she won’t get hurt over it.”

Salik shakes his head. “Sharla… that thing isn’t a girl, I’m not sure what it is, but it’s not a humanoid. Its real form could be a frog or something repulsing. A good lesson I’ve learned over the years, never sleep with the fae, you know how it starts, but you never know how it ends…”

So he's lonely. He can’t sleep with me or Sharla, so he sleeps with Zoe… “You don’t care about Zoe’s feelings at all, do you?”

He sighs and kicks a pebble out of the way. “She’ll get hurt, she’ll learn an important life lesson, and be smarter about her choices later on in life. Someone has to teach her this life lesson, better if it’s someone like me, than a jerk with a pea brain.”

I cross my hands and stop. “Not really, I learned this lesson without getting my heart broken.”

“That’s because you’re smarter than her.” He pats my head almost distractingly. “That airhead won’t learn it without experiencing it firsthand…”

I move his hand from my head. This is annoying unless my real brother does that, I hate being so short… And what he says isn’t a reason! “So you think it’s your responsibility to teach her some sort of life lesson?!”

“No no no.” He raises his hands in denial, “I’m just lonely…”

“That’s selfish!”

He nods grimly. “It is, do you only commit selfless acts, Inara?”

Do I? I’ve been nothing but selfish… I got Lezere killed for my selfishness… I dragged a whole city into a war over my selfishness… Even yesterday when someone I cared for almost died, I cared about draining the soul of that thing first… Face it… What I want in life is power, magic, I’m nothing but selfish… “I guess not…” But I want that so I can go back to my family… But I guess it’s also selfish in a way…

He smirks. “As I’ve said, you’re smarter than most people your age.”

I’m not sure if he knows my real age, but I don’t mind a nice compliment from him... he used to hold back on those… “And the whole life lesson thing? You’re justifying this to yourself so you won’t feel bad and…”

He raises his hand sharply. “Shhhhh, now you’re spoiling the fun with your big brain. Don’t think so much. Take what you need from this world, and take as much of it as you can grab, because it’ll take so much more from you.”

“When you leave Zoe, please be gentle…”

Salik fixes his straw hat and averts his gaze. “I will. The same goes to you when you leave Kolag. The boy may be naïve, but he has a good heart.”

“I’m not going to leave Kolag!” How could you even think that?!

“Not even when you get lonely?” He glances at me from under the brim.

Am I that obvious? “I love him, and I’m not lonely with him."

“He can’t take off that armor, how do you… oh, never mind, I won’t pry.”

I blush. “We don’t really do it, we just cuddle sometimes. This situation only gives me more motivation to solve his demon problem, but I won’t leave him!”

Salik nods in understanding. “I guess you’re still too young to consider anyone else… you’ll get over it eventually. Ok, let’s begin your training for today.”

“I need you and Ovin to clear out the remaining thugs from the city, I’m not sure if to have Zoe joining you two on this. I also need to find a ship back to Red Cedar City, I have no idea how to solve the curse Balgrum and Agilla have, and I hope Jolla or the books I have back in Red Cedar might help me. We also need to bring some food into the city. It’s not exactly a good time for training.”

“Then I won’t take too long today, you were at fifteen pushups last time, try and give me twenty today.”

I shake my head and do as he asks, that was our agreement. I have to listen to him when it comes to physical training. With coarse dirt against my palm, I push myself up. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine… ten… eleven… twelve… thirte…

The world turns red, and dark.

*~*~*

Interlude 122.1

Nolkum Marvu.

"Captain Silde is dead, sir."

Marvu scales shift to angry red with surprise cyan patterns. "Dead?"

The boy fidgets. "Aye, sir. Dead he is. The Queen recruited the Red Spears to her side, the Fishermen too. They attacked the monster under the palace, sir. Captain Silde attacked the Queen and the Red Spears when they left the beast's hideout, the Queen and her monster killed them all."

Marvu scales shift to cowardly blue. "Monster?"

"A giant man-eating horse, sir! Captain Silde never stood a chance, that monster chewed him and spit him out."

"Is she still in Apricot City?" Marvu asks, blue scales form different patterns of curious green.

"No, sir. She left shortly after. We met someone who said she collapsed with the same curse from the beast under the palace, but we don't know if we can trust him."

Marvu's curious green scales shift their patterns as his curiosity grows. "And why is that?"

"He's... not a local, sir. We don't know him, he's strange. He did warn Captain Silde that the Queen have more abilities than just fire magic, but Captain Silde didn't listen. Do we attack now, sir?"

"No. Let me meet this stranger."

"Yes, sir." The boy rushes outside.

After a few long minutes a pair of guards enter with a short young drow. Marvu's scales shift to cyan surprise and suspicious brown patterns. "A drow?!"

"A Silio freak!" The young drow exclaims, shouting loud enough for Marvu's faulty ears to hear him well. The drow's eyes glow in the color of affirmative green like an odd cat.

"What are you doing here, drow? No excuses! I know your kind always scheme."

"Mah kind? Ya know freaks like me?" The drow perks up and licks his lips. "Ya have any good food? Ah ain't talking with no food!"

"Who are you?"

"I'mma rat! Here to rat the queen's secrets. She trust me. Wanna join your gang an' rat ya where her stash is. Gimme somethin' to eat now."

*~*~*

Power level: 3rd stage apprentice.
Mana pools status:
Crown-knot: Affinity 10: connected: 1 gem replenished per minute.
Neck-Bridge: Affinity 6: formed: max amount of gems drained per day: 79
Abdomen-storage: Affinity 5: formed: 16 gems. Conversion ratio: 6:1
Air: Affinity 4: formed: 26 gems
Fire: Affinity 2: formed: 13 gems
Light: Affinity 3: formed: 19/20 gems
Water: Affinity 6: formed: 39 gems
Earth: Affinity 1: formed: 6 gems
Wood: Affinity 2: formed: 13 gems
Gravity: Affinity 9: connected: 84/95 gems

Cantrip known:
Air: Shavi’s Breeze, Shavi’s Sword. Shavi’s Hair Dryer, Aria’s Enhanced Hearing. Aria’s Sonic Scream. Aria's Increased Voice.
Fire: Nuriss’ Flame. Effrat’s Firefly, Effrat’s Fire Breath. Sorladika's Lesser Heating. Nuriss’ Ignite. Oniga's Soap Creation.
Light: Noxi’s Light. Lako’s Blinding Light. Rika’s energy hand.
Water: Water Evocation, Water to Ice, Ice to Water, Water to Vapor, Vapor to Water, Mayan’s Icy Spike, Ayla’s Water Jet. Ayla’s instant freeze. Ayla's Flowing Shield. Ayla’s Freezing Vapors. Hot Water Conjuration. Boiling Waterjet.
Earth: Alice’s Oil Summoning, Reiko’s Acid Spray. Alf's Copper Bolt
Wood: Arigor’s Lesser Vines. Kolosu’s Vegetable Summoning.
Gravity: Lumina’s Kinetic Burst. Tukado’s Repulse. Tukado’s Lesser Shield II. Imari’s Minor Telekinesism. Imari’s Jump. Leo’s Pull. Leo’s Grounding. Alino’s Light Body. Alino’s Heavy Body. Alino's Orbiter.

Transmutation: Oniga's Laundry.

Spells known:
Light: Rika's Electric Channelb1
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb1x2. Tukado's Pushb1x3. Tukado’s defense IIIb1x4. Imari’s Lesser Flightb2.

Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison. Brigit’s Skin Restoration.

Focus capability: 18 patterns.

Social status: The Queen of Red Cedar City. Shaman of the Twin Moon Tribe. Inara, Daughter of Mysteries. Apprentice to the Maven of Mysteries. Sorceress.

Personal Wealth: 1465 Magic Gems. 1420 Golden Peas, 45 Silver Scales, 32 Copper Bits.

Personal Items:
Magical necklace. Contains 100 gems of general mana, can be drained like a mana pool. It’ll recharge by itself at the rate of five gems an hour.
1 potion of lightning body.
1 potion of mana, medium grade.
2 potions of Lesser Healing.
3 potions of Pain Tolerance.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keeps the pouches’ content fresh. Each pouch may contain 10g of petals or six potion flasks.
10 Unknown Blood Fae soul bottles. Glass with a diamond stopper, put in scaled leather wrapping.
The Great White Egret grimoire. Dedicated by the Maven of mysteries to Inara. 30/100. Locked.

Present Companions:
Zoe
Ovin Bloodspear
Berthold
Ryon
Sharlafyn Nettledew
Jerro
Salik

Languages:
Toml’a <People’s tongue> Fluent
Sinteo <Speech> Fluent
Myrsha <Gravity> 8/10
Felul <Wind> 1/10
Nim <Water> 1/10
A'arkalu <Wolf Tongue> 3/10

Injuries and scars: ???

Curses: ???

Kingdom’s treasury: 3836 gold coins. 123 magical gems.

Kingdom’s citizen: Red Cedar City: 3,881 humans, 1,836 human children.
Apricot City: approximate 800+ humans.
Twin Moon Tribe: 1,138 orcs. 293 orc children. 529 sheep-slaves.

Kingdom's army: 1,136 Orc Warriors. 324 Footmen. 49 Peacekeeper Knights. 500 Blood Spears.

Notables at Court:
Tasiya Keyholder.
Jolla SilverQuill.
Talbot Bookkeeper.
Marasi Chef extraordinaire (spymaster.)
Old Gardner Tiom.
Balgrum Orc Chieftain.

2023-12-07 16:04:19 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 122 in color

2023-12-07 16:03:31 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 121 colorless

Chapter 121 A Bloody Battle.

To beat a stronger opponent.
You need to outsmart or outnumber them.
No matter how strong they are, everyone can lose a fight.
It’s a question of wit, numbers, and sometimes blind luck.

Nuriss, the Maiden of War.

The small cracks near the earthy ceiling shed dim daylight on the crumpling wine cellar. Broken barrels and rotten wood pile up at the corners of the room, leaning on moss covered walls. At the far wall there’s a large gaping mow of what seems to be a cave entrance leading downward.

The cellar is flooded with wine, the entire floor bathed in a glossy rich red. Just how much wine was here for it to flood like that? I pause, sniffing, testing the foetid air for the sour stench of so much alcohol left to turn bad above the odors from the rotting corpses behind me. Instead, something metallic and meaty assails my nostrils and I recoil.

I gulps and step down, my foot sinking into the shallow liquid. It’s warm against the snake scale of my boots, and thick, I notice with a frown. Thicker than wine. The red tide seems to ripple lazily around my movements with the quality of slowly clotting blood.

Blood.

The blood flows into the cave at the very back like a darkened river at the edge of this bloody lake.

It's hard to see in the darkness, but the orcs are fighting some... things. They're hacking around at objects within the bloodied cellar. It takes me a few moments to discern with these things even are.

Bloody child-like creatures emerge out of the bloodied floor, each no bigger than a three years old toddler. Their red skin is stretched across their tiny bodies like tanned leather dripping blood. They’re jumping and attacking the orcs using odd bone-blade appendages they have in place of hands. Their attack patterns have no order or unity to it, they just swing wildly, pouncing at their chosen targets. They keep emerging from the ichor covered floor as if they were submerged underneath it, yet the scarlet liquid barely reaches my ankles, they have no way to hide underneath it.

I focus on their faces or the lack of it. No eyes, no nose, no mouth, just a stretched patch of skin where their faces should be. Each time one of these faceless creatures dies to an orcish axe, an inhuman shrill breaks out from deeper within the cellar. They’re only soldiers… We need to find the main creature behind them… At least it’s hurting when these things die… let’s kill them all first!

Learning from past mistakes, I down a pain tolerance potion before I enter the flooded room and join the orcs in their extermination. While the potion would muddle my thoughts if I get hurt and will prevent me from casting stronger spells, I'll still be capable of responding well if I won't feel pain.

I toss ‘Repulses’ and ‘Wind Blades’ at first, then ‘Icy Spikes’ when I run out of wind mana. We keep fighting, and the small creatures keep dying. Every breathless second feels like a long minute, but I doubt we're fighting that long.

They aren’t very hard to kill, and I start counting my kills. Five, ten, twenty, forty, there is no end to them! They emerge from the bloodied floor and die to the orcs’ blows. I gasp, putrid air entering my lungs. We’ve been fighting for a while now. I really don't want to run out of mana before we even reach whatever created these things...

The orcs are thrilled about it at least, they laugh madly as they swing their weapons left and right. These creatures aren’t a real threat, not to me nor the orcs, and each of their deaths is followed by a satisfying shrill scream from deeper within this cellar. Are they just here to slow us down?

One of the orcs drops to his knees with a dull splash. I catch a glimpse of his face, blood pours out of his nose, mouth, eyes, and ears. The volumes of blood coming out of his orifices are unnatural, almost as if someone empties his body of its blood through the face. I notice the wide dark patche around his crotch too and recoil in horror. What happened?! None of these odd creatures even touched this orc, he just dropped all of a sudden.

The kneeling orc falls face down into the bloodied ground with a sickening splash, then dissipates into the blood covering the floor, leaving the hides he wore and his weapons behind. The level of the blood in the cellar barely covers my ankles, it definitely isn’t high enough to cover an orc. Yet, he somehow sunk underneath the bloodied floor.

It’s also not high enough for these creatures to hide in either, the blood probably forms them. They aren’t increasing in number, but they aren’t decreasing either! We fell right into this thing’s trap! What about the screams? Can be a lot of things… even if they’re just meant to fool us, they’re doing their part…

“We need to get out of here!” I call out to the orcs.

“We wining! Shaman afraid?” Agilla huffs, chopping down another babybug creature.

“You decide where we go Shaman, but I command the fight!” Balgrum reminds me.

“These creatures aren’t decreasing! Ritsa!” <Repulse!> I fling away another babybug who jumps at me. “And the wolves are falling. I don’t think these creatures are even alive. Ritsa!” <Repulse!>

“Of course they’re alife!” Balgrum calls out angrily.

*Splash* Another orc falls to one knee, blood spraying out of her orifices. The volume of ichor is great that her head jerks back from it and a hole form in her leathery pants, spraying blood violently.

“Nimuwal!” <Water boundless!> I move between the orcs, and wash her with a ‘Water Jet’ in a desperate attempt to save her. I hit the ground beneath her with a torrent of water, trying to create a spot free of blood beneath her. But I am too late, the orc falls on her back and disappears under the blood, leaving behind a pile of hides and weapons.

“These creatures are here to slow us down. While their creator uses a cowardly curse to kill us. We have to get out of here!” I call out.

“Grahhhhhhhh!” A large callused hand blocks my mouth violently, and blood enters my mouth. The hand turns my head to meet the angry face of Balgrum. “I’m the chief!” he shouts in my face. My heart skips a beat, goosebumps forming on my skin. His gruff face is quite scary up close.

I can always blow off his head if it comes to that… I calm myself.

“Ti-a’ark kra’a gra’asha, gu ti-a’ark krek!” <we wolves ___ ___, now we wolves hunt!> he calls out, still covering my mouth. The orcs howl and rush deeper into the cellar, shrugging off the babybugs that attempt to attack them on the way.

Balgrum lifts me by my armpits, and makes me sit on his shoulders. I hold onto his bald head, trying my very best not to fall off. With how high he is, my head almost touches the earthy ceiling above us.

Moving closer, I notice that the cave opening is actually a broken part of the brick wall.

The creatures keep emerging from the blood, and pouncing at us from the sides. But the orcs whip them aside and stomp them as if they are mere bugs or at least big rats in their way.

The speed the orcs charge forward is impressive, I would never manage to keep up with them on foot, especially because the blood level rises. We are deep within the cavern by now, some of the orcs light torches in the darkness as they charge ahead.

“Revissor.” <Light.> I use my light mana to create a ball of light and send it ahead of the charging orcs to light their way. My magic receives a mad cheer and a screech from the edge of the dark cave.

In my magical light, I note the stalactites hanging from the rocky ceiling of the cave. Blood trickles down and drips down into the bloody pool below. While the very tip of a few stalagmites bulge at the edges of the blood’s surface.

Moving my light forward, I freeze when my eyes spot a movement.

The creature at the edge of the cave looks like an overgrown combination of a human, a mosquito, and a mantis. It has a humanoid head with a long sharp nose, four arms, two with blade-like appendages, and two with humanoid hands. Its waist and below is covered by blood that reaches the orcs waists by now. "Fuck..." I mumble in Toml'a, there's no better word to describe our situation.

The fae lets out a sharp screech and slashes at the blood pool.

The slash creates a thin and tall wave in the blood, so thin it vertically splits an orc in half. The orc’s inner organs spill onto the bloodied pool as the other orcs avoid the dangerous wave. The babybug creatures are still around, attacking us from all sides. "Fuck!" Snaking deadly… definitely couldn’t have taken care of this by myself… I wonder how much I can advance after consuming this thing soul… Eating it though… yuck! Better than eating humans!

“Ti-a’ark!” The orcs howl, they ignore the babybugs and charge directly at the creature who responds by creating its deadly blood slashes.

The next blood slash heads for me and Balgrum. “Rial aluwe ri!” <Cold surface stop!> I call out desperately. The cold pulse freezes the blood. It forms a thin bloody wall. Balgrum growls angrily, along with a few orcs that got caught by cold pulse. The blood around their waists is frozen too.

“Rinim uriss nim.” <Ice flow water.> I attempt to melt the blood, but the blood remains frozen. Unlike a cold wave which simply create instant sub zero wave, this spell works on water directly, not blood.

“Shaman…” Balgrum growls, he hacks his way out with violent axe swings.

“Sorry!” I get off his shoulders and step on the red ice.

The world turns upside down.

*Splash!!!*

The warm blood covers my head. I struggle under the dark liquid, it's near impossible to find my way back to the surface. I find my magical light and use it to orient myself. I get up, gasping for air.

The blood level here gets close to my neck, just below my collarbones. I wipe the blood off my face and put my hand in my pouch to cast a flying spell, but my pouch is empty. The blood washes away my flower supply. My heartbeat increases as the danger and challenges of the creatures rises. The blood is warm, and the icy patch I’ve created and slipped on melts away rapidly, vapors drifting upward.

“Ritsa!” <Repulse!> I yelp and blast away a babybug that aims for my throat, these babybugs are walking on the blood as if it’s solid ground. I have to get out of this blood! Balgrum is too busy digging himself out thanks to me. Being at the center of my spell, he got the worse of my cold wave. He also has to fight off a group of these creatures at the same time. I should get him out with ‘Kinetic Burst’. No! I’ve done enough damage, kinetic burst can knock some ice shards into his body! Focus on the blood fae.

I look at the rocky ceiling above me and touch the nearest wall, channeling wood mana into it. “Rod’ena!” <Vines!> The ceiling drop down three rope-like vines. I hold onto them and direct them with my mind to tie themselves around my thighs and waist. I direct the vines to tug me upward in my odd makeshift harness.

After a second or two, I’m hanging near the stalactites in the ceiling with my vines wrapped around my thighs and hips, out of reach for the babybugs and the deadly blood waves. This cavern is much larger than the wine-cellar, and I have a great vantage point on the battle that rages underneath due to the soft light of my cantrip and the violent splashes of blood.

The orcs corner the weird blood fae, but this thing is fighting with everything it has. The large bug-like creature looks like a whirlwind of blood as it exchanges blows with the orcs.

The red fae spins around as it uses a blade appendage to rip an orc’s belly open, organs spilling out in the bloodied lake. The monster's sharp nose is used as a weapon as well, both to parry blows and to stab at an orc’s neck. It lets out a breath filled with black particles, and a group of orcs drop down with blood spurting out of their orifices in unnatural volumes, soon fading into the blood pool. But the five that remain by the time I reach the ceiling don’t give up.

I guide my vines to move me above the creature’s head. From what I can tell, it doesn’t have wings, it wouldn’t be able to reach me up here. This would be ideal for an electric channel... but I have no idea if my electricity will harm the orcs too... and I lost the lavender... Focus! Cantrips only! “Nimuwal!” <Water boundless!> My water torrent hits its head distracting it.

The creature shrieks when Agilla catches its bloodied blade-like appendage and chops it off, she laughs madly as she dodges the other blade-like arm. The creature’s humanoid arm catches her axe and uses it to chop another orc’s head.

The orcs numbers four now, Balgrum, Agilla, Shufa, and an unfamiliar orc. The unfamiliar orc makes choking noises, a babybug stabs his nape from behind, and he drops to the bloodied pool, blood pouring out of his orifices. Three remaining orcs.

“Rial aluwe ri!” <Cold surface stop!> I turn my water torrent into an icy rod, letting it drop on the blood-fae’s head.

I stare wide-eyed when I see the blood-fey holding my icy rod and swinging it like a club at Balgrum with both of its human hands, while battling Agilla and her spare axe with its remaining blade-like appendage.

“Rinim rill shariss!” <Ice sharp fly!> I cast an amplified icy spike, weaving seven amplifying patterns into it for a threefold amplification. The icy rod in the monster's hand turns into a lance and shoots itself from the creature’s hands into the creature itself.

The creature holds onto the sharp tip, stopping its penetration into its exoskeleton. The whole creature gets pushed back toward the edge of the cave by the force of my ice spear, leaving a wave-like trail in the blood.

“Rinim ril, shariss!” <Ice sharp, fly!> I weave a duplicated icy blade and the lance breaks into five icy spikes all flying toward the creature. I move the light and vines to follow the creature from above.

It manages to swat two of them aside, but the other three hit its insectoid body. Two breaks on its carapace, while one spike lodges itself in a crack near the creature’s neck.

It bellows in a low rumbling voice and the blood in the pool climbs to its wound covering it.

An ice spike to its throat! It’s not dead yet?!

Agilla catches up and swings with her axe, and the monster blocks her strikes with its remaining blade appendage.

Balgrum and Shufa stand back to back, they hold the wave of babybugs all by themselves, shouting their battle cries from the top of their lungs, but they are about to be overrun by the sheer amount of these faceless creatures.

Oh for the love of! I told you we should get out!

“Latsa!” <Lift!> I use my ‘Minor Telekinesis’ on six of these babybugs and drop them above their blood-fae father. The creatures evaporates into a red clouds before they even reach the fae.

I repeat the process over and over, if they are so easy to kill then why not do it? The orcs below see what I do, and copy it. They grab the babybugs legs or blade-like appendages at their base, and throw them at their blood-fae father.

The blood-fae screeches, the creature ignores Agilla and charges at Balgrum. The blood-fae slashes at Balgrum with its blade-like appendage, the orc dodges back, but not fast enough. Balgrum groans as the blade tears his stomach open, a piece of his intestines hangs out in the open, floating on the blood that covers the room.

No!

“Yraggggaaahh!” Agilla jumps at the creature from behind and bury her axe into the back of its skull. She hacks the axe again and again caving the fae’s skull over and over until it drops into the bloodied pool. All of the babybugs disappears in a scarlet fog.

“Balgrum!” I call out as the vines guide me down toward the orc.

“Grahh, stop with your human empathy, it makes my skin crawl. I’ll be fine, it’s just a scratch,” he growls and shoves his intestines back into his stomach.

“Here!” I hand him a healing potion. “Drink this.”

“This is the shaman’s role, healing!” he growls as he accepts the metallic bottle. He gulps it down, holding his intestines inside his belly as the wound heals slowly.

Agilla chops off the blood-fae’s damaged head and lifts it high above her head, howling like a wolf. The sight of the bloodied orc holding a severed long nosed head and howling at the ceiling is a disturbing one to say the least.

Shufa—the orc who made my armor—gurgles, blood pours out of her orifices as she drops into the blood pool. I expected her to disappear in the blood, but unlike the rest of the orcs, the blood volume isn't as violent and she simply floats there, face down in the scarlet liquid.

“We have to get out of here!” I call in a panic.

“Grrrrr agreed!” Balgrum growls. “This place is cursed!” Blood comes out of his eyes, nose, and mouth. He collapses headfirst into the blood pool.

“Balgrum!” Like Shufa, he floats in silence.

I turn him and Shufa to float on their backs. When I turn to Agilla to ask for her help, she also floats in the blood pool, face toward the ceiling, blood trickling out of her eyes and nose. The gory fae skull floats near her shoulder, four insectoid eyes staring blankly at me behind a long barbed mosquito nose.

If all of them were hit by the same curse, why didn’t this curse affect me the same way? No time to think too much about it! I need to get them out of here! Find a way to heal this thing! Yes, but first, I need to absorb its soul. This is the strongest creature I’ve ever encountered. Think of how much power I can get from it! But what if Balgrum will die just because I delay here?

Stop thinking and absorb the damn soul already! It’ll be gone if I won’t!

I tie out my scaled pouch to my neck and let the vines go. I drop, splashing in the blood. I pick a glassy bottle, hoping I can drain the soul of a headless creature.

I channel my mana through the diamond and move my bottle around. I find out that I can in fact drain the soul near the creature’s sharp nose. Red gas flows into the glassy bottle, turning into a dark blood-red liquid. I fill up all of my ten ectoplasm bottles, and I can only assume there’s probably more.

I grab the creature’s head, doing my best to suppress my disgust. I don’t know how much I’ll need to eat to absorb the soul, but I hope that eating the brain will be enough.

*~*~*

Power level: 3rd stage apprentice.
Mana pools status:
Crown-knot: Affinity 10: connected: 1 gem replenished per minute.
Neck-Bridge: Affinity 6: formed: max amount of gems drained per day: 79
Abdomen-storage: Affinity 5: formed: 16 gems. Conversion ratio: 6:1
Air: Affinity 4: formed: 26 gems
Fire: Affinity 2: formed: 13 gems
Light: Affinity 3: formed: 19/20 gems
Water: Affinity 6: formed: 39 gems
Earth: Affinity 1: formed: 6 gems
Wood: Affinity 2: formed: 13 gems
Gravity: Affinity 9: connected: 84/95 gems

Cantrip known:
Air: Shavi’s Breeze, Shavi’s Sword. Shavi’s Hair Dryer, Aria’s Enhanced Hearing. Aria’s Sonic Scream. Aria's Increased Voice.
Fire: Nuriss’ Flame. Effrat’s Firefly, Effrat’s Fire Breath. Sorladika's Lesser Heating. Nuriss’ Ignite. Oniga's Soap Creation.
Light: Noxi’s Light. Lako’s Blinding Light. Rika’s energy hand.
Water: Water Evocation, Water to Ice, Ice to Water, Water to Vapor, Vapor to Water, Mayan’s Icy Spike, Ayla’s Water Jet. Ayla’s instant freeze. Ayla's Flowing Shield. Ayla’s Freezing Vapors. Hot Water Conjuration. Boiling Waterjet.
Earth: Alice’s Oil Summoning, Reiko’s Acid Spray. Alf's Copper Bolt
Wood: Arigor’s Lesser Vines. Kolosu’s Vegetable Summoning.
Gravity: Lumina’s Kinetic Burst. Tukado’s Repulse. Tukado’s Lesser Shield II. Imari’s Minor Telekinesism. Imari’s Jump. Leo’s Pull. Leo’s Grounding. Alino’s Light Body. Alino’s Heavy Body. Alino's Orbiter.

Transmutation: Oniga's Laundry.

Spells known:
Light: Rika's Electric Channelb1
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb1x2. Tukado's Pushb1x3. Tukado’s defense IIIb1x4. Imari’s Lesser Flightb2.

Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison. Brigit’s Skin Restoration.

Focus capability: 18 patterns.

Social status: The Queen of Red Cedar City. Shaman of the Twin Moon Tribe. Inara, Daughter of Mysteries. Apprentice to the Maven of Mysteries. Sorceress.

Personal Wealth: 1465 Magic Gems. 1420 Golden Peas, 45 Silver Scales, 32 Copper Bits.

Personal Items:
Magical necklace. Contains 100 gems of general mana, can be drained like a mana pool. It’ll recharge by itself at the rate of five gems an hour.
1 potion of lightning body.
1 potion of mana, medium grade.
3 potions of Lesser Healing.
3 potions of Pain Tolerance.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keeps the pouches’ content fresh. Each pouch may contain 10g of petals or six potion flasks.
10 Unknown Blood Fae soul bottles. Glass with a diamond stopper, put in scaled leather wrapping.
The Great White Egret grimoire. Dedicated by the Maven of mysteries to Inara. 30/100. Locked.

Present Companions:

Languages:
Toml’a <People’s tongue> Fluent
Sinteo <Speech> Fluent
Myrsha <Gravity> 8/10
Felul <Wind> 1/10
Nim <Water> 1/10
A'arkalu <Wolf Tongue> 3/10

Injuries and scars:

Curses:

Kingdom’s treasury: 3836 gold coins. 123 magical gems.

Kingdom’s citizen: Red Cedar City: 3,881 humans, 1,836 human children.
Apricot City: approximate 800+ humans.
Twin Moon Tribe: 1,138 orcs. 293 orc children. 529 sheep-slaves.

Kingdom's army: 1,136 Orc Warriors. 324 Footmen. 49 Peacekeeper Knights. 500 Blood Spears.

Notables at Court:
Tasiya Keyholder.
Jolla SilverQuill.
Talbot Bookkeeper.
Marasi Chef extraordinaire (spymaster.)
Old Gardner Tiom.
Balgrum Orc Chieftain.

2023-12-04 11:59:38 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 121 in color

2023-12-04 11:58:49 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 120 colorless

Chapter 120 There’s a Bloody Fae in Town.

The best defense is offense.
The best offense is hurting your enemy.
The best way to hurt your enemy,
is to go after what it cherishes the most.
Is it worth it?

Nuriss, the maiden of war.

I wipe the blood from my face with my hand, with how itchy my eyes get, I know I got some in my eyes too. A good bath before we leave? And if this thing got more of these creatures? Best take care of it first… I have an hour to wait for the orcs anyway…

“Sharla? Ideas?”

She shakes her head. “This narrows it down to Dark Winter Fae, all Blood Fae are Dark Winter, but I have no clue which one. Vampires shouldn’t be able to do this though. I'm glad we aren’t dealing with a vampire. They're much worse than this, hm?”

“Thanks.” Doesn’t help me much, I don’t know even what the difference between the seasons means… let’s ask? “Sharla? What do the different seasons even mean for the fae?”

She frowns at me, then smiles like one smiles to a child. “Aw, I forgot that you’re a changeling…”

“Changeling?”

“Fae raised by mortals. I know you think of yourself as a human with faeblood, but to me and to most of the fae, you are fae. Your blood is too thick to be anything else."

Right... not even sure what that means. "Sharla? The seasons?"

She smirks as if she noticed my annoyance and takes some sort of twisted pleasure from it. The wind picks up and a few leaves float away from her dress. "The main difference between the seasons is when we’re at our strongest. Take me for example, I’m an Autumn Fae. I grow stronger during fall. Normally I can only wear the forms of gnomenoid females. While during autumn, I can take the form of gnomenoid males, animals, magical beasts, fae, or even demons and elementals if I try hard enough. I can also attack directly at my season, unlike the rest of the year… But during the fall I’m also much hungrier, for both spiritual food and physical food. That’s the main reason a Fae’s season is important, it’s when we’re at our strongest, and we tend to avoid an enemy on their prime season.”

Interestingly enough it makes some weird sense… I’ve awaken my powers during spring too…

She takes a short breath before she continues. “There are a few other characteristics for the different seasons. For example: Autumn Fae are all herbivores. We can’t eat meat, even Dark Autumn Fae can’t digest it. Winter Fae are always carnivores, they can’t digest plants. Summer Fae are omnivore, or scavengers, some of them are capable of digesting anything and let’s just say they eat everything they get their hands on. Spring Fae are extremely picky about their food, it tends to be a single thing for each species. Sacred water, tot flowers, tusks, a single type of snake venom. Sometimes Spring Fae even feed on an element, like fire, or light... You get the idea…”

“What about light and dark fae? What makes me a dark fae? what makes you a light fae?”

“That’s… that classification is not Fae in origin, the elves gave that classification to us, but we embraced it. It refers to our other type of food. We need both physical feed like gnomenoids do, fruits in my case. And we need a spiritual feed, this one differs between the different Fae species. Dark Fae’s spiritual feed tends to harm gnomenoids directly, Light Fae’s mental feed is usually harmless. Like me, I feed on gnomenoids' pity. I also don’t need much of it to survive, I’m essentially harmless.”

“Take vampires for example, they’re Dark Winter Fae. Their diet is mortal blood, and their spiritual feed is obedience. They need gnomenoid thralls to serve them, which makes them harmful.” She stops for a bit before continuing. “Some say that since the elves gave us that name, the Dark Fae are stronger during the night, and the Light Fae are stronger during the day. But if there’s a difference like they claim, it’s miniscule. It also differs per clan and court, a shade-heart like me actually have abilities I can only use at night despite being a Light Fae. There’re some who say that the fae get stronger due to popular beliefs of mortals. Which isn't something I can deny, but I cannot prove that either.”

“In other words, I wouldn’t want to fight a vampire on a winter night…” I comment quietly.

She nods sharply, like an odd bird pecking a grain. “Yeah that would be a pretty bad idea. Winter is the time they go out to hunt and fill their blood reserves, they hide for the rest of the year…”

“How do you know so much about vampires?”

“There was a vampire who had a castle near the last oak forest, the place I grew up at. Vampires are mostly friendly with other Fae. I was a curious girl, so I visited him sometimes. Vampires live very long lives, so they tend to be wise. He always had good advice for me when I needed one. He lived together with the Rakshasa I told you about, I'm not sure whether or not they were a couple.”

“I see... That's interesting. By the way, can they really turn other humans into Vampires and make them immortal?”

She shakes her head. “Into lesser vampiric creatures that are essentially under their control, not true vampires, no. But by most humans' definition these lesser vampiric creatures are vampires. This ability attracts gnomenoids to their servitude. It’s genius really, they make their food come to them and ask them to be eaten…”

“More like sickening, but the whole world eats everyone and everything apparently…”

“Don’t worry, you have nothing to worry about. Vampires hate the taste of Fae‘s blood, and you’re Fae-blood, even I can tell that, and I’m pretty weak for our kind. They won’t attack you. There was this girl that came to him, he realized she’s part Fae after he smelled her. He let her go, she wanted to stay but he practically chased her out of his castle…”

All very interesting Sharla, but it can’t help me with whatever fae is in the city… I’m covered in blood, I want to take a good bath and finish this mess… “Thanks, we should get going, I have a crazy blood fae to hunt.”

An hour later, I travel through the city on Loyal's back, leading my group of about twenty orcs, and about three hundred of Ovin's men. Other than Sharla and Jerro who stayed back in camp, the rest of the party is with me. The city is deathly quiet, the people are either hiding or dead. Only when we reach the palace do we encounter people.

A group of about five hundred men and women block the entrance to the palace. They're a rabble, dressed in rags and some of them are not dressed at all. They're so think their bones are visible under their skin, and their dead eyes tell me that they're most likely already dead. They all hold makeshift weapons, from torches and pitchforks, to actual spears and swords. “You shall not pass!” They speak in a unified voice. “You shall not pass! You shall not pass!” They chant over and over again.

The sights behind them is horrid. A pile of flayed corpses mounts on the palace's entrance, blocking it, and on the palace walls over a hundred bodies are impaled on stakes with their skins stripped from their bodies. Those bodies are in a various stages of rotting in the sun, some with visible worms and parasites poking out of them. I do my best to keep the acid in my throat from making me vomit, but I can't help it. I lean over Loyal's side and empty the contents of my stomach on the ground. Snakes! I don't need the men to falter! I've seen some horrible things before, this is not very different!

“Ready bows!” Salik order Ovin's men. "Ready bows!" Ovin repeats for his men who lift their crossbows in preparation.

“Grrrah sick mad dogs!” Agilla grumbles.

Balgrum puts his hand on her shoulder. “If we fight these sick dogs we take two thirds as our sheep.” He says and the orcs nod in agreement.

“They’re all being controlled by the prey hiding inside…” I wipe my mouth and comment quietly. “See how they all speak together? It’s not natural…” Loyal under me kick the ground and neighs with anticpiation.

As if on cue, the small army of mad civilians charges forward, screeching from the top of their lungs. The world trembles, and their screams makes me wince in pain.

“Loose!” Salik yells over the madness.

The men don't wait for Ovin's order this time, and the charging rabble meets a hail of arrows and crossbow bolts. Loyal charges forth and I almost get thrown off his back. He stomps the mad crowd to death, and tremors pass up through my body as hard bone breaks under his hoof, only for the breaking bones to disappear in a splash of blood when the bodies beneath him explode. I hold onto his mane, conserving my magic for the battle with the Fae.

I look around for my friends. Zoe in near Ovin, freezing a group of maddened civilians that Ovin caught in his vines trap. Berthold is by Salik's side, sniping one target after the next from behind Salik's shield, I can follow one of his arrows from the moment it leaves his bow to the point it pierces a ragged old woman right in the eye. There's no sign of Ryon, I can't spot him.

Balgrum and his orcs swing around with their axes and slam the butts of their spears. I can tell they are trying to capture these people alive, they want their sheep. Yet, they meet a horrifying disappointment. Every time a human goes down under the orcs’ blunt blows, the human explodes, covering the dumbfounded orcs with torrents of blood.

Soon the battle comes to a halt when the last of the human-looking creatures explodes. The orcs snarl and wipe the blood from their faces, then charge into the palace making their way amongst the flayed corpses. “We’re looking for a passage underground!” I call after them. “Look below.”

They disappear into the palace with angry growls. I push Loyal's sides with my heels, directing him to pass over the small mountain of flayed corpses that blocks the entrance. "Tans fe-lasiuak!" <Loud words!> I enhance my voice with some wind magic. “Salik, I’m going in with the orcs, they'll need help. Stay here and keep the entrance secure. Whatever we find in there is not going down without a fight, and the last thing we need is to come out and face some gang once we’re done.”

“Will do, my Queen." He raises his voice above the chaotic battle. "Watch yourself down there, I’ve never seen anything like this!”

“Thanks, I didn’t come here to die.” I smile at the concerned old man across the raging battle, from high up atop my horse I can meet Salik's eyes. I pat the side of my horse's neck as I cut off the mana to my patterns. “Loyal, stay and help Salik, ok?” My horse replies with a cheery neigh.”

I glance at the bloodied street one last time, before dismounting my horse and entering the palace with a pounding heart.

The moment I enter the palace, I instantly cover my mouth, trying my best not to vomit again. The stench in this place is unbearable, piles of skinned corpses litter the hallways, men, women, children, rotting away without a tree to their name. This creature… when I find it… it’s dead!

An inhuman shriek pierces throughout the halls, it sounds like the orcs found it. I run toward the source of the shrieks and find a staircase that leads downward into a wine cellar.

It’s time to deal with this monster!

*~*~*

Interlude 120.1

Elder Gorlor

We wolves! We hunt! ~ Ti-a’ark! Ti krek!

We wolves! Honorless death to our prey! ~ Ti-a’ark! Ti krekolak yomh’ak!

We wolves! Our sheep shall fear! ~ Ti-a’ark! Ti nh’i yoma’ari yomla’!

We wolves! Through fire and honorable death! ~ Ti-a’ark! Ja’al po no kolh’ak!

Grand Chieftess watches! We wolves! ~ la’aoko wuala’ak! Ti-a’ark!

The intense hunt songs of his younger brethren are a comfort to listen to. There were times elder Gorlor marched with them, sang with them, and hunted with them. He expected a prey’s claw or teeth to take him to the hall of bones, but it did not happen. Now after fifty-four winters he is too old to hunt, but he can guide the younger generations in their pursuits, there is some honor in that.

Gorlor pats his pet spider and watches the punishment the wolves bring on the humans for killing members of the tribe. The human bitches and pups scream as the orcs drag them out of their dens, the few male dogs who attempt to put up a fight, die swiftly, and the cowardly ones are sheep. They are shackled by bones along with their females and pups.

The humans need to know that the wolves aren’t weak, wolves won’t take murder to their kind lightly. Now, their prey shall learn true fear. They’ll become sheep until the Chief comes back and decides what to do with them.

A bitch with a red mane gets dragged before Gorlor, the wolf who brings her lifts his head, exposing his neck in a respectful gesture. Gorlor frowns as he looks at the red-maned human, hoping their little Fire-Soul won’t influence the Chief to change their ways again. It was bad enough when the Chief gave up his share of the loot. If the Chief listen to her and release the sheep as well, many wolves will be unhappy…

“Gorlor!”

The elderly orc lifts his head. The Blessed Rhino enters the street in his glowing shell. He’s angry, a wolf dies with each swing of his mighty horn. But the cowardly dogs behind him can’t keep up, they get held back by the wolfpack, isolating the Rhino for the kill.

The Blessed Rhino is surrounded by a group of excited orcs, they are all eager to bring down this prey. The wolf who’ll make the killing blow will have tremendous honor and a true story to take with him to the hall of bones.

Sadly, no wolf will have the honor of downing this foe. Gorlor is an elder, he learned how to use the schemes of humans, and he knows that their Fire Soul will be furious if the Rhino died. If that happen, she would unleash her rage on the pack, killing everyone.

No. Gorlor can’t test her. Gorlor has to tie the Blessed Rhino unharmed, the Rhino is the Fire Soul’s mate, and only the Fire Soul can decide his fate.

The red-maned bitch screams when Gorlor grabs her by the hair and she goes silent when Gorlor presses his old trusty fang against her throat. “Let Blessed Rhino through!” <jas jolik pa’ar ja’al!> Gorlor calls to his younger brethren.

The circle opens, the rhino charges at Gorlor, surrounded by the orcs. “What is the meaning of this?!” The armored human demands to know.

“You humans attack us, kill our own, do you think we wolfves weak?” Kra’al, a respected bitch from the pack, growls in gnome twisted tongue from the side. A quick translation to wolf-tongue by her Mate Brito, and the rest of the wolves growl in agreement.

“Now we attack you, kill your own, we wolfves show we strong!” Kra’al continues, her mate translates, and another wave of grunts comes from the rest.

The rhino raises his mighty horn and a glow comes out of his shell. “By Noxi, I will show you strength!”

Gorlor presses the dagger in his hand against the human female’s throat. “If you won’t put your weapon down and surrender, I will kill her.” Gorlor threatens in fluent Sinteo, showing his sharp teeth.

"I'm no fool, Gorlor. Everyone's lives are at stake, I can't risk the people's life for a single woman." The Rhino charges toward Gorlor.

Maybe Gorlor was wrong about the Rhino, but the Rhino just gave his own weakness. Gorlor pushes the terrified human female into the Rhino's path and force him to halt his charge. "If you won't put down your weapon and surrender, I will order my brethren to slaughter every living soul in this city. We won't take sheep, we won't take slaves, we'll kill them all."

The Rhino hesitates for a long moment. With a growl that wouldn’t shame any wolf, the glow from the armor dims, and the rhino stabs his sword into the the bloodied earth. Gorlor is adept at reading human faces, but the Rhino’s face is covered by his shell. Fortunately, Gorlor knows that the Rhino is honorable.

To humans, honor includes protecting the weaker members of the pack, unlike orcs who chase out weakness or made weakness serve as sheep. It took many years for Gorlor to understand this, why would you want a weaker pack? Some of it is still beyond his understanding.

Brito translates to wolf-tongue. Grolor would prefer if he hadn’t done that, but he cannot stop him. Taking down the Rhino with tongue twisting words is shameful, but it is his duty as an elder. His brethren scatter silently, covering and averting their faces to show that they won’t watch Grolor’s shameful act.

The Rhino push his hands forward, gesturing for Gorlor to bind them and Gorlor snorts in relief, he’s right about the human, he’s always right about humans. “Bind him!” <Kash o!> Gorlor orders. The wolves growl and snarl with discomfort, but they do as he ordered while covering their faces. Now that the Chief, Second, and Fire-Soul are away, it falls onto the elder to give the commands.

“What will you do when Inara gets here?” The Rhino asks as the wolves bind him with ropes and chains. “She’ll be furious…”

“That’s between Chief Balgrum and Shaman Inara, not for you to intervene.”

The Rhino lets out an echoing sigh. “I’ve intervened enough…”

Gorlor looks around at the burning dogs’ den of a human city and nods. The Fire-Soul will be furious, and the Blessed Rhino had intervened enough.

*~*~*

Power level: 3rd stage apprentice.
Mana pools status:
Crown-knot: Affinity 10: connected: 1 gem replenished per minute.
Neck-Bridge: Affinity 6: formed: max amount of gems drained per day: 79
Abdomen-storage: Affinity 5: formed: 16 gems. Conversion ratio: 6:1
Air: Affinity 4: formed: 26 gems
Fire: Affinity 2: formed: 13 gems
Light: Affinity 3: formed: 19/20 gems
Water: Affinity 6: formed: 39 gems
Earth: Affinity 1: formed: 6 gems
Wood: Affinity 2: formed: 13 gems
Gravity: Affinity 9: connected: 84/95 gems

Cantrip known:
Air: Shavi’s Breeze, Shavi’s Sword. Shavi’s Hair Dryer, Aria’s Enhanced Hearing. Aria’s Sonic Scream. Aria's Increased Voice.
Fire: Nuriss’ Flame. Effrat’s Firefly, Effrat’s Fire Breath. Sorladika's Lesser Heating. Nuriss’ Ignite. Oniga's Soap Creation.
Light: Noxi’s Light. Lako’s Blinding Light. Rika’s energy hand.
Water: Water Evocation, Water to Ice, Ice to Water, Water to Vapor, Vapor to Water, Mayan’s Icy Spike, Ayla’s Water Jet. Ayla’s instant freeze. Ayla's Flowing Shield. Ayla’s Freezing Vapors. Hot Water Conjuration. Boiling Waterjet.
Earth: Alice’s Oil Summoning, Reiko’s Acid Spray. Alf's Copper Bolt
Wood: Arigor’s Lesser Vines. Kolosu’s Vegetable Summoning.
Gravity: Lumina’s Kinetic Burst. Tukado’s Repulse. Tukado’s Lesser Shield II. Imari’s Minor Telekinesism. Imari’s Jump. Leo’s Pull. Leo’s Grounding. Alino’s Light Body. Alino’s Heavy Body. Alino's Orbiter.

Transmutation: Oniga's Laundry.

Spells known:
Light: Rika's Electric Channelb1
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb1x2. Tukado's Pushb1x3. Tukado’s defense IIIb1x4. Imari’s Lesser Flightb2.

Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison. Brigit’s Skin Restoration.

Focus capability: 18 patterns.

Social status: The Queen of Red Cedar City. Shaman of the Twin Moon Tribe. Inara, Daughter of Mysteries. Apprentice to the Maven of Mysteries. Sorceress.

Personal Wealth: 1465 Magic Gems. 1420 Golden Peas, 45 Silver Scales, 32 Copper Bits.

Personal Items:
Magical necklace. Contains 100 gems of general mana, can be drained like a mana pool. It’ll recharge by itself at the rate of five gems an hour.
1 potion of lightning body.
1 potion of mana, medium grade.
4 potions of Lesser Healing.
4 potions of Pain Tolerance.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keeps the pouches’ content fresh. Each pouch may contain 10g of petals or six potion flasks.
Glitter ingredients. (1 bag)
Fresh rose petals, 30g
Fresh lavender petals, 7g
10 empty soul bottles. Glass with a diamond stopper, put in scaled leather wrapping.
The Great White Egret grimoire. Dedicated by the Maven of mysteries to Inara. 30/100. Locked.

Present Companions:
Zoe
Ovin Bloodspear
Berthold
Ryon
Sharlafyn Nettledew
Jerro
Salik
Loyal

Languages:
Toml’a <People’s tongue> Fluent
Sinteo <Speech> Fluent
Myrsha <Gravity> 8/10
Felul <Wind> 1/10
Nim <Water> 1/10
A'arkalu <Wolf Tongue> 3/10

Injuries and scars:

Curses:

Kingdom’s treasury: 3836 gold coins. 123 magical gems.

Kingdom’s citizen: Red Cedar City: 3,881 humans, 1,836 human children.
Apricot City: approximate 800+ humans.
Twin Moon Tribe: 1,158 orcs. 293 orc children. 529 sheep-slaves.

Kingdom's army: 1,1156 Orc Warriors. 324 Footmen. 49 Peacekeeper Knights. 500 Blood Spears.

Notables at Court:
Tasiya Keyholder.
Jolla SilverQuill.
Talbot Bookkeeper.
Marasi Chef extraordinaire (spymaster.)
Old Gardner Tiom.
Balgrum Orc Chieftain.

2023-11-30 13:44:13 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 120 in color

2023-11-30 13:43:25 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 119 colorless

Chapter 119 Jerro's Plight

An unrequited love is a thirst that can’t be quenched.
A hunger that can’t be sated.
A flavor that can never be tasted.
It is a harsh and cruel thing.
But Lukam is a cruel world,
so keep on dreaming my lovelies!

Koshavi, the Princess of Dreams.

As the sun sets over the horizon. I lead Ovin's men toward the city gates. I notice that there are only three hundred men under Ovin, meaning he wouldn't commit all of them, but I don't mind it one bit, it should be enough.

I'm a bit worried that I do not hear any fighting, only the sound of a group of men working and laughing. When we get closer I notice that the city gates are no longer under the gang's control. My men and the orcs are in the midst of constructing a new camp in the open square inside the gate, using the city walls as protection from the outside.

I find Salik helping with the tents despite his missing arm. "Salik? What happened to the gang who controlled the gates?"

"Good to see you alive and well, kid." He smiles with a shrug. "They moved away about an hour ago. Sharla got back with your orders a little after they did, and I just moved our camp here to prevent them from cutting us off again."

"I see... good thinking, Salik. Where is Jerro, I need his opinion on something."

"He didn't want to enter the city, he's also sick. I had my men construct a tent for him just outside the walls."

"Ovin, this is Salik, my General. Treats his commands like they are mine. Salik, this is the head of the Red Spears gang, he commands around five hundred men give or take." I introduce the two.

"Wait, you knew?!" Ovin asks, startled.

I raise an eyebrow. "Knew what?"

"How many men I have... How?"

"I had Sharla checking your camp earlier."

He glances around my camp with a frown. "Why y'oll have so little men?"

"Because I was assured by my imbecile spymaster that there won't be any fighting in this city." And I'm going to kick him around until he tells me how he missed this when I'm back! "Speaking of, it might be best if you bring the prisoner here. We do need the information he can give."

Ovin frowns at me for a few long seconds, then nods and orders a few of his men to bring the prisoner. He turns to Zoe. "Y'oll teach me magic now?"

She looks at me, pleading silently for me to refuse it. "Teach him, Zoe. I'll take over it when I can, but for now teach him the basics. Salik? Take me to Jerro."

Salik nods and order Lepp Strongarm to lead the way for me, staying back with his men and helping with the tent.

Jerro's tent looks lonely alone outside the walls. I lift the flap a little and peek. “Jerro?”

Jerro’s chest spasms in a hearty cough. I can hear the force behind it and suspect he may not be as ill as I feared. "Good, you’re alive and you came back here.” He gives me a faint smile from his bed.

“I did. I needed to hear your opinion on a certain matter. What’s wrong? Why are you sick?”

He smiles reassuringly. “It’s nothing serious, I just caught a flu…”

I raise an eyebrow. “In the middle of the summer?”

“It can happen, the nights are pretty cold.”

He’s lying… “Really? I can barely fall asleep at night with this heat and I’m using a cooling spell to do so. This island is much warmer than Axero…” It’s his business… whatever it is… “...if there’s anything I can do for you, let me know.”

There’s a long silence, he looks me for a little while then scowls as if I’ve done something bad to him. “You can convince Sharlafyn to give me her fruit.”

“Her fruit?”

He sits up in bed. “Yes, it’s her token of friendship…”

“I’m getting the feeling that this fruit is way more important than just a ‘token of friendship’. Is it a token of her friendship? Or her love?” So this is about Sharla again… of course…

“It’s the same to her, that fruit can heal me. Just make her give it up,” he replies with clear impatience in his voice.

I cross my hands on my chest. “Are you acting sick so she’ll look at you?”

He wipe the sweat off his forehead. “No. I’m sick, and I might die if I won’t eat that fruit.”

“Why? I thought you have the flu?”

“Flu can kill you,” he says, deadpan.

“Huh huh… Sharla is a master at getting other people to pity her, she feeds on it. What makes you think she’ll go with your ploy?”

His brown eyes look directly into mine. “This is how her kind courts one another. She trusts you, she loves you, and she believes in you. She’s also your servant, she’ll do it if you command her to.”

“So, you want me to feel sorry for you. Jerro, don’t you think Sharla will hate you if you force her to give you a token without any meaning behind it?”

“She will hate me at first, but then she’ll grow to love me. She was forced to serve you, but now she loves you, why can’t it be the same? I see it is going to be the same!” He's desperate and frustrated he's trying to convince himself that this is what he saw.

He wouldn’t say he saw something if he didn’t… but I’m guessing he sees possibilities? And there are possibilities of things going wrong with this route… “I’m guessing there is a very small chance of this happening in your vision…” I finish my thoughts aloud.

“How did you know? Can you see timeflow too?” He jumps from his bed in alarm, forgetting that he’s supposed to be sick.

I can’t help but laugh. “No, but I can read simple human behavior. Jerro, stop plotting around. All you can do is tell her how you feel, be there for her when she needs you, and wait for her to feel the same.”

“And what if she’ll never feel the same?” He frowns at me.

“Then you can’t force her to. Feelings are not something we control, and trying to force feelings usually have the opposite results.”

“But she’s my soul mate! She’s the only person who can love me without asking me all the questions they don’t want to know… She… I tried to impress her, I tried to woo her.” His eyes tear up. “She doesn’t even look at me, like I don’t exist. I exist! And I love her!” For Jerro who’s always cold and indifferent, this show of raw emotion feels odd.

“You should tell her that.” My voice sounds meek in the face of his tears.

“I can’t!”

“Why not?”

He sniffs, wiping his tears. “She’ll say she doesn’t want me… and no, don’t tell me that I don’t know that, because I know that she’ll say that. I can see the future, remember?”

“Even what people are going to say next?”

He hesitates. “Sometimes… if it has a significant meaning…”

“Wait a minute, you still haven’t told her that you love her?”

He shakes his head.

He won’t get anywhere like this! “Ok, it’s time we fix that. First let’s get you cleaned up, you need to shave or decide if you want to keep a beard. You need cleaner clothes. Tomorrow morning you’re going to the forest to get flowers, do you know what flowers she likes?”

He lowers his head, frustration in his voice. “Aridons, you can only find them high in the north… Last Oak Forest, the Empire of Tsurianer, around the Opal Tower too I guess… They’re not growing on the Gray Islands.”

“Anything else?”

He shakes his head. “Daphne flowers, but we can’t find them here…”

Stop saying what you can't do already... “Ok whatever, get her any flowers you can find and think she’ll like, ok?”

He moves his hand on his stubbles. “Ok, then what?”

“Give it to her and tell her that you love her.”

“But she’ll say no.”

I cross my hands. “If she says no, you’ll have to accept it. Jerro, you need to be more confident in yourself. You see some future, you see some realities that didn’t happen yet, and it makes you afraid and hesitant to act. Stop living in the future, live in the here and now, she didn’t say no yet, correct?”

He nods quietly.

“Then she never said no! I don’t care what you saw, I don’t care what might happen tomorrow, you don’t know what might happen tomorrow, you…”

“But I do,” he interrupts me.

“And how many times what you've seen changed? You don’t know what will happen tomorrow, period! What you do know is that tomorrow you’re going to get yourself cleaned up. Then, you’ll get some flowers for Sharla, and then tell her that you love her. Anything else doesn’t matter, you will do your part and…”

“And she’ll say no,” he finishes my sentence for me. "She wants to lay with the hunter. She will break his heart soon, and then she'll lay with the rogue for a time. She does not want me."

“Fine!” I get up angrily. “Don’t do anything! Pretend to be sick in bed and get me to force her to give you her fruit or whatever, because that’ll get her to love you for sure!”

“Really?” He looks at me with a pair of brown puppy eyes.

“No!” I leave his tent angrily. Why does it bother me so much? I was just trying to help… Yes, but he keeps predicting the potential future and it blocks his present reality… Face it, Sharla will most likely say no, Jerro can be creepy… So how do I turn him into someone attractive? Why do I even care?

He saved me more than once, I owe him this… and I’ll do whatever I can to get them together… As long as it’s within reason… There's also Berthold's feelings to consider... The only times I think of him as attractive was when he saved me… he’s amazing when he saves the day. But even then… it’s more as if he saw it happen already… the guy lives in his chosen prediction…

Let’s start with the basics, looks, fix him some clothes that don’t look like baggy rags, fix his hair, make him his own men before he even approach her and get him to look right… it’s like the guy never looked in a mirror… Maybe he didn’t… mirrors are expansive…

I should at least ask Sharla what she thinks of it... Not that I have high hopes for that...

I head for Sharla's tent. Once I draw close enough I can hear the strained breaths from inside. She's clearly sharing her time with a man in there. From what I've noticed around camp, it's most likely Berthold, or possibly Ryon or one of the soldiers, it's impossible to tell with her. Everyone gets to have their fun except for me and Kolag... because of course I have to fall in love with the only man who can't sleep with me...

Only when I get to my own bed with the hopes of at least pleasuring myself a bit, I remember that I wanted to pique Jerro’s mind about the mysterious Fae in the city.

{28} Brigit (August) the 3rd

The next day I get out of my tent, planning to head to Jerro’s. Instead, I find the tired looking man right outside my tent, his clothes are stained as ever. Sharla is alongside him, but she acts like if he isn't there. “The creature in the city is used to schemes and manipulations. The more aggressive you are, the less he or she can react in time, and he’ll be forced to fight you directly… I can’t see which one of you is going to win this fight, I can't even see him clearly. I can tell you this: The more you play his games of cloak and dagger, the higher his chances get to win the struggles over this city.”

“Can you tell me where he is? I have no idea where to attack?”

Jerro shakes his head. “All I know is that he’s underground, that’s beyond my Lord’s reach.”

“Your Lord?”

“Tiyadi, the God of Time and Death. I’m… I guess you can say I’m his cleric, not by choice. My gift or my curse—whatever you wish to call it—comes from him. His sight of time flow is partially blocked underground, above the high skies and the mirage cloud, or under the deep sea's surface, it means my vision is flawed there.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Does time not flow underground? And what's the mirage cloud?”

“The mirage cloud... you'll see it for yourself in time. And time does flow underground and in the high skies, but it flows differently. Different gods have made these places their domains, they block some of my lord’s sight. My visions about what happens in these places are very inaccurate. If you ever need to hide from someone who has similar talents to my own, go underground or above the mirage cloud, there’s a whole world below and above.”

“Below this city?”

He shakes his head. “No, not under this city, underground in general. Under this city should be a small cavern system? Tunnels maybe? It’s not sewers. I can’t see clearly, go and attack it with everything you have! Kill everyone and everything you see in those tunnels”

Makes sense… “Can you tell me where the entrance to the tunnels is at least?”

“Under the palace.” There is no hint of doubt in the reply, he knows exactly where the entrance is. Having him around is extremely advantageous, I wonder how long I’ll have such luxury…

“That means we’re looking for the Flayers gang, what about Marvu’s raiders? The prisoner we took said he communicates with them telepathically…”

“If he communicates with them telepathically, whoever communicates with him can claims to be whatever he wants.” Sharla chimes in from the side. She currently wears her true fae form. Her blue starry eyes mesmerize me for a brief moment, and her autumn leaves dress flutters in the summer wind. “It’s easy to lie through telepathy, especially when dealing with your average mortal who has never experienced telepathy in their lives.”

I nod, that makes sense. “That Fae, it should be a strong opponent, right?”

“Yes.” The response comes from both Jerro and Sharla who look at each other right after. Jerro with a smile that looks a bit creepy, and Sharla with a confused look on her sharp fae-like face.

“That’s all I needed to hear.”

I head for the orcs’ section of the camp with Sharla and Jerro in tow. Jerro keeps leering at the fairy who acts like she doesn't notice. At some point he just stops and his face turns stone cold again. He's using apathy to protect himself... I know what that's like... I'm not going to force Sharla to be with him... But I will help him become less creepy that she might consider it...

I find the group of orcs all passed out on the ground, stinking from alcohol. Their chief in the middle, knocked out cold. With the orcs sprawled around on the earthy ground I have to navigate my way between their large bodies who are packed together like an odd mass of dark flesh and stinking furs. The stench of sweat and alcohol makes me hold my breath. Loud snores come out from a few of them, along with murmurs in orcish that I can't make sense of. Agilla turns in her sleep and grabs my ankle, murmuring something in Orcish. I tug my leg sharply and she lets it go, trying to grab a male orc who sleeps besides her.

I reach Balgrum and kick him. “Balgrum. Balgrum!”

He doesn’t wake up.

I don’t want to waste mana before a fight… “Lepp. Throw me your water skin.” I order the familiar soldier who chatting with a group of his friends near the sleeping orcs. He looks at me dumbfounded for a brief moment then throw me his waterskin. I smile at him apologetically and spill the content on Balgrum’s face. “Balgrum!”

“Wha wa whaa’aat?!”

“Wake up. We have a strong prey to hunt!”

“Wah? Prey? Prey! Krek! <Prey!> AAARGH!!!” He and the group of orcs wake up from their stupor. They draw their axes, and spread out as if we’re under attack. Their bloodshot eyes looking everywhere for an enemy.

“Where’s the prey?” Balgrum finally asks, rubbing his eyes.

“Deeper In the city.”

Agilla steps forward angrily. “We say shaman! We wolfes won’t hunt sick puppies in their den unless we make them all sheep!”

“Yeah! Puppies!” Another orc echoes, followed by growls of agreement and snickers. “Ti-a’ark!” <We wolves!> Another shouts, “Ti-a’ark!” <We wolves!> The others repeat, punching each other’s muscular arms. One of the female orcs punches too hard and the guy she punched decides it’s a good idea to punch her back in the face. The two drop to the ground in a violent brawl or a weird mating ritual.

I raise my voice, doing my best to make sure they can all hear me. “I’m not talking about the humans, there’s a strong fae creature hiding under the city, he can pose a threat to me…” I can’t help but compare the high pitch of my voice to their low rumblings and growling voices.

“Kra’alusa, shaman afraid?” Agilla asks with a grin full of sharp teeth.

“A little,” I admit, “but I’m going to hunt it whether you’re coming or not. I just thought I’ll give you an invitation since you love hunting strong prey so much…”

Balgrum slaps Agilla’s nape, the hit makes her fall down on all four. “We’ll come. Gife us an hour,” he says with a gruff voice. He turns to Lepp who stands between the human and orc sections of the camp, seemingly abandoned by his friends who found something better to do around the camp. “You there! Get us more booze!”

“There’s no more booze. You drank everything we had last night!” Lepp sounds like a cornered animal. I can imagine this group of almost twenty orcs forcing the poor human guard to hand them all of the alcohol.

The orcs seem awkward, they start a serious-looking discussion amongst themselves in their language. Although I can only understand a few words, the content of their discussion isn’t too hard to guess: ‘no booze, what are we going to do now?’

“I can make you a potion to deal with your headaches?” I suggest.

“Bah! No need. We go hunt!” comes the gruff reply from Balgrum.

“I want to come too!” The voice comes from Marvu’s spy. I am surprised to see the man is walking free. I’ve handed him over to Salik to be guarded, and the spy being here means he got past his guards somehow.

"What exactly are you doing here?!" I shove my hand into my rose pouch, ready to cast a spell. "Lepp! Get me Salik, this man is supposed to be under guard, not walk free. Did Ryon not interrogate him? Where's Ryon?!"

"Ryon is eating the meat from..." Lepp doesn't finish his sentence. The former prisoner runs toward me at full speed, swinging a dagger in his one healthy arm. “Myrsha samir” <Gravity protect> I purposely use the weaker red version, and the stab toward my chest slows. I place my hand on his face and: “Myrsha ritsa!” <Gravity repulse!>

The blast is bigger than I expect, his whole body explodes, covering me and the surrounding with a huge amount of blood. I cough and spit the blood that got into my mouth. Are my powers getting stronger? No… this is something else… There was another man that exploded earlier when I just hit him with an arrowhead...

What’s left of the body is a headless human skin. There is too much blood spilled around, yet no sign of bones or flesh. Almost as if this spy was only a sack of skin filled with blood. What kind of fae can do that?!

*~*~*

Interlude 119.1

Moriz

Moriz stares wide-eyed as his little girl wakes up with rosy cheeks. The metal-clad paladin—still covered in bloodstains from battling eight savage orcs on his own—pulls his hand back with an echoing sigh. “Your daughter will live, my good man. Cherish your life and follow Noxi’s light.”

“Milord. Thank you, milord!” Moriz shouts thankfully holding his healed daughter in his arms. “I renounce Jalier. I will now walk in Noxi’s light!”

A few people in the crowd gasp, but Moriz doesn’t care. Yes, tomorrow a bunch of fanatics will probably draw a sun on his door. Yes, he’ll be shunned by everyone else in the city. But following Jalier had lost him his family, while Noxi’s paladin had saved him and the only family he has left.

“Milord, can I ask a question, milord?” James, Moriz’ childhood friend asks. The knight nods silently. “You be a paladin of Noxi, milord, why tolerate the queen? The church of Noxi had led crusades against them sorcerers as long as I remember meself. And we all be worshiping Jalier an enemy of Noxi.”

“Against arbitrary evil sorcerers, yes. The queen isn’t evil, I would’ve killed her long ago if she was…”

“Yes, milord!”

The queen isn’t evil. Moriz can’t tell, but coming out from the holy man who saved him and his daughter, Moriz has to accept it as the truth.

“Sir Kolag!” A peace-keeper knight barges into the already crowded room. “The orcs are attacking the city!”

*~*~*

Power level: 3rd stage apprentice.
Mana pools status:
Crown-knot: Affinity 10: connected: 1 gem replenished per minute.
Neck-Bridge: Affinity 6: formed: max amount of gems drained per day: 79
Abdomen-storage: Affinity 5: formed: 16 gems. Conversion ratio: 6:1
Air: Affinity 4: formed: 26 gems
Fire: Affinity 2: formed: 13 gems
Light: Affinity 3: formed: 19/20 gems
Water: Affinity 6: formed: 39 gems
Earth: Affinity 1: formed: 6 gems
Wood: Affinity 2: formed: 13 gems
Gravity: Affinity 9: connected: 84/95 gems

Cantrip known:
Air: Shavi’s Breeze, Shavi’s Sword. Shavi’s Hair Dryer, Aria’s Enhanced Hearing. Aria’s Sonic Scream. Aria's Increased Voice.
Fire: Nuriss’ Flame. Effrat’s Firefly, Effrat’s Fire Breath. Sorladika's Lesser Heating. Nuriss’ Ignite. Oniga's Soap Creation.
Light: Noxi’s Light. Lako’s Blinding Light. Rika’s energy hand.
Water: Water Evocation, Water to Ice, Ice to Water, Water to Vapor, Vapor to Water, Mayan’s Icy Spike, Ayla’s Water Jet. Ayla’s instant freeze. Ayla's Flowing Shield. Ayla’s Freezing Vapors. Hot Water Conjuration. Boiling Waterjet.
Earth: Alice’s Oil Summoning, Reiko’s Acid Spray. Alf's Copper Bolt
Wood: Arigor’s Lesser Vines. Kolosu’s Vegetable Summoning.
Gravity: Lumina’s Kinetic Burst. Tukado’s Repulse. Tukado’s Lesser Shield II. Imari’s Minor Telekinesism. Imari’s Jump. Leo’s Pull. Leo’s Grounding. Alino’s Light Body. Alino’s Heavy Body. Alino's Orbiter.

Transmutation: Oniga's Laundry.

Spells known:
Light: Rika's Electric Channelb1
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb1x2. Tukado's Pushb1x3. Tukado’s defense IIIb1x4. Imari’s Lesser Flightb2.

Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison. Brigit’s Skin Restoration.

Focus capability: 18 patterns.

Social status: The Queen of Red Cedar City. Shaman of the Twin Moon Tribe. Inara, Daughter of Mysteries. Apprentice to the Maven of Mysteries. Sorceress.

Personal Wealth: 1465 Magic Gems. 1420 Golden Peas, 45 Silver Scales, 32 Copper Bits.

Personal Items:
Magical necklace. Contains 100 gems of general mana, can be drained like a mana pool. It’ll recharge by itself at the rate of five gems an hour.
1 potion of lightning body.
1 potion of mana, medium grade.
4 potions of Lesser Healing.
4 potions of Pain Tolerance.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keeps the pouches’ content fresh. Each pouch may contain 10g of petals or six potion flasks.
Glitter ingredients. (1 bag)
Fresh rose petals, 30g
Fresh lavender petals, 7g
10 empty soul bottles. Glass with a diamond stopper, put in scaled leather wrapping.
The Great White Egret grimoire. Dedicated by the Maven of mysteries to Inara. 30/100. Locked.

Present Companions:
Zoe
Ovin Bloodspear
Berthold
Ryon
Sharlafyn Nettledew
Jerro
Salik
Loyal

Languages:
Toml’a <People’s tongue> Fluent
Sinteo <Speech> Fluent
Myrsha <Gravity> 8/10
Felul <Wind> 1/10
Nim <Water> 1/10
A'arkalu <Wolf Tongue> 3/10

Injuries and scars:

Curses:

Kingdom’s treasury: 3836 gold coins. 123 magical gems.

Kingdom’s citizen: Red Cedar City: 3,881 humans, 1,836 human children.
Apricot City: approximate 800+ humans.
Twin Moon Tribe: 1,158 orcs. 293 orc children. 529 sheep-slaves.

Kingdom's army: 1,1156 Orc Warriors. 324 Footmen. 49 Peacekeeper Knights. 500 Blood Spears.

Notables at Court:
Tasiya Keyholder.
Jolla SilverQuill.
Talbot Bookkeeper.
Marasi Chef extraordinaire (spymaster.)
Old Gardner Tiom.
Balgrum Orc Chieftain.

2023-11-27 12:07:18 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 119 in color

2023-11-27 12:06:15 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 118 colorless

Chapter 118 Gang War III

Save a man’s life and his yours to do as you please.
Yet, make sure not to cross the line.
If you do, you’ll find yourself with a dagger in your back.

Rakisha, Mother of all Demons.

With my heart pounding loudly in my ears, I run toward Ovin. He still gurgles on the ground in a desperate struggle to breathe. The battle rages around me, but both sides avoids me like wildfire, it’s not like they can harm me and they know it. I pull out the arrow shaft from Ovin’s neck, and blood sprouts like a red fountain from the dark hole at the side of his throat. He chokes and spits blood, trying to push my hands away from him.

“I’m trying to save your life! Stop fighting me, you peabrain!” I press my hand against the hole in his throat, and fix a healing potion against his mouth. “Drink! It’s your only chance!”

He holds onto my wrist, trying to gulp down the potion with a wounded throat.

I lift my eyes to see a man with a red spear armband, stabbing an iron tipped spear toward me. "Myrsha samir!" <Gravity protects!> My orange shield bubble blocks the weapon. To my surprise the orange color flickers and turns red as the spear slowly sinks into my shield as if moving slowly under water. I take out an arrowhead from my belt before the spear's tip reaches me. "Ritsa!" <Repulse!> The bolt hits the man directly in his chest. Instead of collapsing with a hole in his chest, he explodes into a gory bloody mess that gets slowed by my defensive magic, drops of blood floating in the air like odd red snow.

Ovin sits up. He gasps and coughs, massaging his neck and spitting blood. “Thank you, I owe you mah life!”

“Good! Now stop this mindless killing!”

“Charge!” “yarghhhhh!!!” “Gut the fishes!” “Break da spears!” I can hear the battle cries from the middle of the chaotic battle. I can’t see much, but it sounds like a third group just joined this bloody battle. This was a setup, the men on both sides who shot their leaders belong to a third gang… But how?! No one knew I’m going to meet Ovin today, who set this up? Someone with enough intelligence gathering skills… Or maybe it’s someone like Jerro… someone who can predict the future?

This is irrelevant, the time for talk is over. I’ll start killing now. I put my hand in my rose pouch, move my fingers in the correct gestures and chant. “Myrsha, nia tsaf lah, lah shitol ni latsa lah, fel ka’am J’an nia kent” <Gravity, I command you, you will give me to defy you, and move as I want>

I soar in a cloud of purplish smoke, a violet speck of light circles around me. From high above, I can see another gang attacking from the south, all while the Fishermen and the Red Spears are bashing each other in a brutal manner below.

With a quick count I can tell there are about a hundred of them. Even from high up in the air, I can tell that they’re all drenched in water from head to toe, their hair sticks to their faces, and their clothing sticks to their bodies.

Ryon was right, they didn't listen to him. This is why I threaten strangers with fire. These are Marvu’s raiders, and Gushar must’ve went back to report instead of taking my advice. I fly closer passing above the heads of the fighting Fishermen and Red Spears. “Nimuwal!” I aim my water jet in front of the charging army, raising it to wash the ones at the front.

“Snakes!” this low I can even hear their curses. This indeed must be a special preparation for me. An uncontrollable laugh escapes my lips, they really thought they had everything covered.

I fly a meter above the ground, floating between the charging gang who I assume to be Marvu's Raiders, and the battling Fishermen and Red Spears behind me. I increase the amount of water I conjure with an amplifying pattern. I wash the front of the enemy rabble, my water jet drenching them thoroughly and creating watery puddles in the muddy street below.

I fly lower, almost touching the ground in the left side of the street. I float right in front of their lead charging man, I see his brown eyes open wide, his mouth agape with a roar and a spear held tightly in hand, aiming from my chest despite the splashing water. l cut the mana supplies to the ‘Water Jet’ patterns and: “Rial aluwe ri!” <Cold surface stop!> I weave an ‘Instant Freeze’ cantrip.

The water puddles turn into crystalline black surfaces, and the drenched men in five meters radius are covered in a thick layers of frost, not ice statues like I had hoped for. Nevertheless, it’s enough to slow down their charge, they freeze in place or collapse, gasping for air. While I do catch their left group, the street is wider than this ten meters wide or possibly a little more.

The temperatures drop below zero, in the summer heat it’s rather refreshing, but I know that soon I’ll be feeling the cold in my bones. I float a piece of ice to my hand and move it on my lip like an odd lipdye as I fly to the right side of the charging group, the ones who keep charging, out of range of my freezing cantrip. “Felul.” <Wind.> “Shanim rial!” <Vapor cold!> I breath out the ‘Freezing Vapors’, and guide them with my ‘Breeze’. There are too many of them, and I have to spread my vapors around, so it’s not enough to create more than two ice statues. But the sheer cold is more than enough to cover them in frost and slow the rest of them down.

With all the ice around, icy spike spells are easier to cast. “Rinim rill shariss!” <Ice sharp fly!> I grow three icy bolts from the nearby frozen man and scatter them into the half frozen group.

Men collapse, men scream, both war cries and shouts for a retreat. They all eye me with awe and fear. Some turn and run, some hide behind their friends, others clench their shuddering teeth and attempt to hit me with their projectiles.

I turned the whole width of this ten meters wide street into a group of half frozen and bleeding men. Save for two, they aren’t all ice statues like in the bard’s tales, but the sheer cold and frozen body parts is enough for them to hunker down.

Their archers behind keep trying to pin me down, but I am a moving target. The very few arrows that do reach me, slow down right before they hit my body due to the scale armor under my dress. They mostly fall to the ground, sometimes touching my armor lightly.

I land on the frozen earth and cancel my flying spell, reaching for more rose petals. Since they struggle to move or circle the frozen patch of their group, I have enough time to chant and lift my hand. “Myrsha, nia tsaf lah! Nikit bach fukdi-ai fel ritsa!” <Gravity, I command you! Focus in hand mine and repulse!>

Unlike kinetic burst, this spell is silent. The strong repulsive effect sends the majority of this bandit group flying. Frozen body parts snap, bones break, and people scream. They get thrown off their feet and hit the buildings behind them, limbs sprawled.

The enemy gang’s morale was already faltering, now it breaks down into a rout. They push each other to run away.

They scatter into the alleyways, leaving over twenty broken bodies behind. I turn, expecting to see the Fishermen and the Red Spears in a midst of battle, but they’re no longer fighting. They all just stand there, looking at me with awe and fear, some even have worship in their eyes, like I’m a goddess descended upon the world.

I smile, it feels amazing. Yes! Worship me you little dogs. This is power! This is the power I’ve always wanted! I just stopped a charge of a hundred men and I didn’t use half of my power yet! With this, I can go home and keep everyone I love safe! With this, I don’t have to worry about ever becoming a slave again!

I cast a silent ‘Breeze’ to flow in my skirts and hair, enjoying every bit of awe from these men. I arch, taking a deep breath with my eyes closed. Their awe sends odd tingles throughout my body and mana-pools, it's like how I imagined strong wine would make me feel before I actually drank it. The rush of adrenaline in my veins is added by a small touch of sexual arousal. These people's awe is so strong that my crown-pool draws on it, I feed on it. The moment is extremely enjoyable and I don't want it to be over, but like all good things, it must end too. Only now do I notice that all the mana I used up in this battle is topped up, as if I've never cast a single spell.

“This da’ rat!” Ryon leads a man with a fish armband forward, Ryon kicks the back of his knee, forcing him to kneel. The man winces in pain, I can tell all of his right-hand fingers are broken, bent backward unnaturally.

Still riding on my odd rush of power I caress his cheek and hums. “Good job, Ryon!”

He nuzzles against my hand in an odd way, he did the same thing back when the hag touched his face. “Ah don’t want your words! Gimme some o’ that snake ya eat every day, an’ we call it even!” This gets confused looks from the men around us as they try to figure out whether we’re discussing real snakes or not.

Ugh! What am I doing? I tug my hand back like Ryon cheek is on fire, trying to bring myself under control again. “That can be arranged,” I answer with a smile, trying to ignore how red my face is. I approach the spy in the Fishermen gang. “So, who do you work for? Marvu or the flayers?”

He spits on my chest.

I ignore the provocation. “Do you think you can afford your pride right now? Do you know how it feels when your broken fingers are twisted? I’m not beyond forcing your hand. If you tell me everything I want to know, I’ll let you go.”

He tries to spits on me again, but I catch the spit with a silent 'Minor Telekinesis' and push it into his left wincing eye. He grunts and speaks. “What do you take me for? Stupid? I tell you what you want to know and you’ll kill me anyway!”

“And jeopardize the way all of these people see me? Show all of them that my word means nothing?! You are stupid. No, if you tell me what I want to know within the next five minutes, I’ll let you go. If you force me to get it out of you, I’ll kill you.”

“Even if you let me go, Marvu will kill me.”

“I can ensure your safety too, I’ll personally escort you back to my camp. I don’t believe Marvu can fight twenty orcs and a small human army, can he?”

“He’s got people everywhere! He still has some people in the Fishermen, I bet the red spears too! Marvu even has people in the…”

At the edge of my vision I spot a man on one of the rooftops, aiming a bow at us.

“Myrsha samir!” <Gravity protects!> My orange bubble flickers around me and the spy. My reaction is right on time, the arrow gets deflected when it touches my defensive bubble. I snatch it from the air with my mind.

“Berthold!” Before I can even finish my friend’s name, his well-aimed arrow drops Marvu’s man from the rooftop.

This is irritating, the guy has people everywhere, I’m curious to know how they coordinate so well, how does he controls them? How do they communicate?

I let my defensive bubble go. “See? I can ensure your safety. Now talk! How does Marvu communicate with you? How do you receive his orders?”

“In my head, I hear his voice. I know it sounds crazy, but I’m telling you the truth!”

“I believe you. Come on, let’s get you somewhere safe…” That would explain the fast response of these men… I’m either dealing with a telepathic apprentice mage… or some type of fae… I hope it’s not a demon…

I turn to Shorr’s second in command, the man who calms down the Fishermen. Like Shorr, he has a black beard, only shorter. He is surrounded by his men. They keep giving him one bad idea after the other. One of them thinks they should attack everyone here, another suggests to kill Ovin here and now while he's in the open, and the third questions whether or not they can really trust me. “Excuse me?”

The men give way, but I can see the hatred in their eyes. To them it’s my fault their leader died, and no amount of words can change that. “Yes? Sorceress Inara, was it? Your Grace, I’m going to pull the Fishermen back to our territory, we’ll keep to ourselves until this conflict ends. Is that ok with you?”

Smart… the fishermen are lucky to have you as a second in command… “As long as you maintain order and you're loyal to me, that’s perfectly ok with me. I’m sorry for your loss. I couldn’t save your leader. I can’t do a thing about an arrow in the brain. I can’t bring the dead back to life, only avoid being hit in the first place…”

He nods. “Thank you, for trying. I’ll get back to you if I manage to organize everything. Does your offer to bring us food still stands?”

“Of course! I’ll bring food regardless, it’s meant for the people not for one gang leader or another.”

“Good to hear that.” His broad shoulders sag for a moment. “You have our loyality, Your Grace, but we all have families, we can't leave them unprotected."

"As I've said. It's ok. You've done enough. Go protect your families."

He bows deeply, hands held in a prayer gesture I've seen around Red Cedar often, then turn to leave.

"Two things before you go?” He stops. “You didn’t give me your name?”

“Ah, Daor, I’m Shorr’s brother.” I can see the similarities, same brown eyes, same broad shoulders, and almost the same height.

“A pleasure to meet you Daor, the second thing. This city has a sinister creature hiding in it, I’m not sure what it is yet, but it can communicate with the minds of humans. Watch for anyone who acts suspicious.” It’s better if you believe it’s a creature… telling you it might be a sorcerer will only make you more rebellious…

He nods. “Understood! I’ll get back to you once I have everything in order.” He marches his men toward the docks.

Most of the Red Spear members are gone by now, scattered back to their territory. Ovin is still here with a few of his men, he approaches me. “You saved mah life. Me and mah men are yours. Y’oll more than welcome to stay in our territory, I’ll fix you a house with everything for the night.”

“Thanks, but I don't believe we'll get much sleep tonight. Assemble your men. We're attacking the city gates within the hour. Sharla?"

The fae materializes from thin air. Her sudden appearance startles Ovin who jump back and mutters a few curses. "Yes, Mistress?"

“We have a telepathic Fae here, controls his gang from afar, ideas?”

She shakes her head. “Can be a lot of things, from gray pixies to vampires. You asked me about the Rakshasa a few days ago and a Rakshasa is also an option, it should be able to communicate and dominate mortals telepathically. Though if it was a Rakshasa behind the scenes here, we’d see a flourishing city, not this mess, not so soon. Telepathy is a pretty common ability amongst the Fae, one in four Fae species is either born with it or gets it at some point in their lives. I need more than just telepathy to go on, and even then, I’m not an expert.”

Great, this isn’t getting anywhere… “You’re the closest thing I have to an expert on the Fae. We have a prisoner here, you can ask him everything. I want to know what we’re dealing with.”

“You could ask Jerro, he holds a surprising amount of knowledge about the Fae, even if it’s not always accurate. But I guess you aren’t wrong, I’ll talk to the prisoner.” She steps toward our newly acquired prisoner. "Did you see Marvu? How did he look like?"

"No. Never seen him." Annoyance wells in my chest at the predictable answer.

"Ah make him talk!" Ryon grabs the man's hair and twists his head a little as the man squirms.

Sharla shrugs. "You can try, but I don't think he actually saw Marvu. Something is off with him. He smells wrong, I... I think he's no longer alive? I'm not sure. He smells like undead anyway."

"I'm alive!" The man protests. "Please don't hurt me! I'll tell you what you want to know, but I never saw Marvu, please, good lady, take me out of here before another bowman gets here."

I cross my hands "Fine. Take him away, Ovin. I'll have you interrogate him later, Ryon, and all the snake meat you want when we're back in camp. Sharla, get past the gates to Salik, have him attack the city gates from outside as a distraction exactly at dusk."

"It will be done, Mistress." One moment she's there, the next she's not. I know she simply turned invisible, but Ovin men have their awe flooding my veins in volumes. Yes. You're all my pawns, look at what my pawns are capable of my little dogs and serve me... UGH STOP. Focus. Breathe. Did Sharla do that on purpose? Of course she did... but why? Is she trying to make me act on my bloodline or something? To what ends?

I take a deep breath, bringing myself under control. "Ovin? Please keep an eye on your people for suspicious behavior…”

He grins, his red scar twisting. “Yeah, I heard the warning you gave them Fishes. When will you start teaching me magic?” There is an eagerness to begin learning in his brown eyes.

"Not today. Today we're attacking the gates and securing a passage for my men into the city from the camp outside. However... Zoe? Did you get to the wood mana pool yet?” I turn to my first apprentice.

She shifts awkwardly. “Yes master I’m currently working on it, since water magic strengthens wood magic I thought it’d be a good idea and…”

“For the time being Zoe will teach you how to form your wood mana pool.”

Zoe wrinkles her nose in disgust. “Why me?”

I cross my hands. “Because I need to think, and it's simple enough that you can teach it. Regardless it'll be tomorrow when we have time. We're attacking the gates. Get your men ready, Ovin."

"Yeah. Of course, Mistress?" He bows lightly and turns, gestures us to follow him.

Zoe keeps wrinkling her nose at Ovin but she does begin to explain the wood meditation method to him as we walk. Berthold walks by my side, watching the rooftops with his bow half drown. Ryon is gone, but I can tell he's shadowing us. The prisoner is dragged by Ovin men toward his camp.

*~*~*

Interlude 118.1

Kolag

Kolag watches with fury as Grokar’s head falls off his shoulders. He just broke Inara’s trust with this action, the realization weighs heavy upon his heart.

This little incident will grow into a bigger conflict, all because he couldn’t control his rage, he couldn’t watch this injustice happening right in front of him. And his god demands it. Maybe Inara was right, what will he do if Noxi orders him to attack her or someone else from their group?

“Kill theM all!” The demon bellows in his mind. “Suck theiR juicy Wet guts! DrAin their fEces! Rip their inTestines and stRangle them! WEt! Wet and jUicy!”

“Kill them all!” His god orders. “They’re nothing but animals! Below animals! How dare they defile the dead?! Do they think power is everything? Show them the true power of a god!”

And Kolag shows them what a true power is, he hacks, slashes, and stabs. The bright light shining from his armor blinds the orcs. Just like the blind savages they are, they attack without a thought. Two of them attack each other, four swing in the wrong direction, only the orc at Grokar’s side manages to reach Kolag with his axe.

Kolag slashes the orc’s wrist with the tip of his trusty claymore. The orc attempts to use his left hand, but Kolag adds another deep cut on the orc’s lower abdomen before he can even draw another weapon. The orc drops to his knees, organs spilling out.

By the time the orcs regain their senses and adjust to the bright light, Kolag had already killed two. Light comes out of each of his slashes, reminding him that Noxi supports this action. Noxi’s verdict is more important than Inara’s. Or is it?

Kolag will think about it later, he can leave it to Noxi to sort out. He has to show trust and faith in his god.

Another orc screams as Kolag’s large blade chops off his arm. Kolag steps aside from an axe that got thrown at him, and proceeds to cut the knuckles of the next orc in a fluid motion, knocking the axe off his hand. He takes a step back to avoid a blinded swing from another orc, and whips the orc’s committed shoulder with a quick slash.

*ding!* *cling!* Kolag’s head rocks in his helmet. An axe and a spear gets deflected by his adamantine armor. Bronze and bone cannot penetrate this armor. Yet, Kolag shouldn’t get complacent, should he topple over, or should one of the blade penetrate a weak spot in the armor, he’ll die like anyone else.

Kolag steps back, and positions all of the orcs at one side. He radiates Noxi’s light to blind them, and waves the claymore in their direction to keep them away. With the claymore’s superior reach and their short range axes, he can win this, Noxi is on his side.

Kolag deflects a fast spear stab, his reach cannot help him with this one, but Noxi’s radiance can. He prays wordlessly and the glow intensifies, the spear stabbing at him now stabbing blindly in the wrong direction. Kolag swings at the orc’s ankle and the blade bites into flesh. He pulls his claymore fast and blocks a blow from another orc as the first drops to one knee.

Kolag keeps moving, dodging the blind attacks and swinging death upon his savage enemies. And then, silence, there’s no one left to attack him anymore.

Kolag lets the light fade.

One of the orcs gets up and swings an axe with his left hand. “Ti-a’ark!!!”

Kolag’s step back out of reach for the swing and stab his claymore through the orc’s torso. The savage spasms, and Kolag kicks him off his bloody blade. Three of the orcs are still alive, groaning and clenching their wounds.

“Kill them! Gut them! Wet sweet juices!”

“Kill them my son. Slavers, monsters who enslave and torture women and children. They don’t deserve to live!”

The voices in Kolag’s head intensify. Kolag raises his sword and execute the three remaining orcs.

Kolag gasps for air, bathing in sweat. He eyes the bloodied field, leaning on his claymore for support. Eight gutted orcs. Eight gutted savages. Eight less slavers who’d torture women and children. Justice have been served.

If anyone had ever told him in the past that a warrior had managed to defeat eight enemies without taking a single hit, Kolag would doubt that person’s credibility. Noxi, his god, had a direct hand in this, and Kolag is merely his vessel, this knowledge fills Kolag’s chest with pride.

“You are correct to be proud, my son. Justice has been served! Evil has been cleansed!” Kolag hear his god’s words.

“My son, the man who had been wronged, heal his daughter. I will grant you the power to heal the sick and wounded from this day onward.” The next order and ability comes directly in his god’s voice. No longer praying and wondering whether or not his god can hear him, now Kolag’s god is with him, every day, every hour, every second.

*~*~*

Power level: 3rd stage apprentice.
Mana pools status:
Crown-knot: Affinity 10: connected: 1 gem replenished per minute.
Neck-Bridge: Affinity 6: formed: max amount of gems drained per day: 79
Abdomen-storage: Affinity 5: formed: 16 gems. Conversion ratio: 6:1
Air: Affinity 4: formed: 26 gems
Fire: Affinity 2: formed: 13 gems
Light: Affinity 3: formed: 19/20 gems
Water: Affinity 6: formed: 39 gems
Earth: Affinity 1: formed: 6 gems
Wood: Affinity 2: formed: 13 gems
Gravity: Affinity 9: connected: 84/95 gems

Cantrip known:
Air: Shavi’s Breeze, Shavi’s Sword. Shavi’s Hair Dryer, Aria’s Enhanced Hearing. Aria’s Sonic Scream. Aria's Increased Voice.
Fire: Nuriss’ Flame. Effrat’s Firefly, Effrat’s Fire Breath. Sorladika's Lesser Heating. Nuriss’ Ignite. Oniga's Soap Creation.
Light: Noxi’s Light. Lako’s Blinding Light. Rika’s energy hand.
Water: Water Evocation, Water to Ice, Ice to Water, Water to Vapor, Vapor to Water, Mayan’s Icy Spike, Ayla’s Water Jet. Ayla’s instant freeze. Ayla's Flowing Shield. Ayla’s Freezing Vapors. Hot Water Conjuration. Boiling Waterjet.
Earth: Alice’s Oil Summoning, Reiko’s Acid Spray. Alf's Copper Bolt
Wood: Arigor’s Lesser Vines. Kolosu’s Vegetable Summoning.
Gravity: Lumina’s Kinetic Burst. Tukado’s Repulse. Tukado’s Lesser Shield II. Imari’s Minor Telekinesism. Imari’s Jump. Leo’s Pull. Leo’s Grounding. Alino’s Light Body. Alino’s Heavy Body. Alino's Orbiter.

Transmutation: Oniga's Laundry.

Spells known:
Light: Rika's Electric Channelb1
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb1x2. Tukado's Pushb1x3. Tukado’s defense IIIb1x4. Imari’s Lesser Flightb2.

Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison. Brigit’s Skin Restoration.

Focus capability: 18 patterns.

Social status: The Queen of Red Cedar City. Shaman of the Twin Moon Tribe. Inara, Daughter of Mysteries. Apprentice to the Maven of Mysteries. Sorceress.

Personal Wealth: 1465 Magic Gems. 1420 Golden Peas, 45 Silver Scales, 32 Copper Bits.

Personal Items:
Magical necklace. Contains 100 gems of general mana, can be drained like a mana pool. It’ll recharge by itself at the rate of five gems an hour.
1 potion of lightning body.
1 potion of mana, medium grade.
4 potions of Lesser Healing.
4 potions of Pain Tolerance.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keeps the pouches’ content fresh. Each pouch may contain 10g of petals or six potion flasks.
Glitter ingredients. (1 bag)
Fresh rose petals, 30g
Fresh lavender petals, 7g
10 empty soul bottles. Glass with a diamond stopper, put in scaled leather wrapping.
The Great White Egret grimoire. Dedicated by the Maven of mysteries to Inara. 30/100. Locked.

Present Companions:
Zoe
Ovin Bloodspear
Berthold
Ryon

Languages:
Toml’a <People’s tongue> Fluent
Sinteo <Speech> Fluent
Myrsha <Gravity> 8/10
Felul <Wind> 1/10
Nim <Water> 1/10
A'arkalu <Wolf Tongue> 3/10

Injuries and scars:

Curses:

Kingdom’s treasury: 3836 gold coins. 123 magical gems.

Kingdom’s citizen: Red Cedar City: 3,881 humans, 1,836 human children.
Apricot City: approximate 800+ humans.
Twin Moon Tribe: 1,158 orcs. 293 orc children. 529 sheep-slaves.

Kingdom's army: 1,1156 Orc Warriors. 324 Footmen. 49 Peacekeeper Knights. 500 Blood Spears.

Notables at Court:
Tasiya Keyholder.
Jolla SilverQuill.
Talbot Bookkeeper.
Marasi Chef extraordinaire (spymaster.)
Old Gardner Tiom.
Balgrum Orc Chieftain.

2023-11-23 11:42:59 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 118 in color

2023-11-23 11:42:08 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 117 colorless

Chapter 117 Gang War II

Don't underestimate the element of surprise.
It is the downfall of many wise individuals.

Nuriss the maiden of war.

"What do you have for me Sharla?" I sit on a small barrel, watching the river currents carrying a small fishing boat into the harbor. Zoe meditating on the earthy ground by my side, and Berthold sits on a wooden barrel, fletching arrows. Ryon is not back yet.

She's still wearing her middle aged woman form, her graying hair fluttering in the breeze with her brown robes. "The Red Spears have more men than the Fishermen. About five hundred from my count, the Fishermen are around three hundred. The Red Spears have less women and children to protect, but they do keep their women and children alive and protected. Those women and children are mostly families of the men who are members of their gang, strangers who are extra mouths to feed are turned away, or accepted in exchange for carnal services. They don't force themselves on the women they accept, those women agree to it, so I do not know if it enters your definition of rape."

I shudder. I really hope this isn't another Luard... "You were there, Sharla, what do you think?"

She doesn't look at me, she focuses on the flowing water, her gray hair fluttering in the wind. "I honestly couldn't care less, Mistress. I do not have the moral obligation you seem to hold toward mortal females who find themselves in dire circumstances. I know your past had been less than fortunate in that regard, but these things are more common than you'd think. Women often offer up their bodies for safety, and men kill in order to stay alive. This is the way of the primal chaotic world of mortals. The more civilized a place become, the less you'll see that phenomena. Although, some women will still pay with their body to get what they want, usually money."

"I... I see..." She's really a cold one... and she's not exactly human... She probably has a different psychology and she mimics human psychology to fit in... It's not like I'm fully human either... but my urges to dominate and manipulate are at least obvious to me and I can try and keep them under control... "What about their weapons?"

She crosses her hands and sits down on the ground. The motion is quite unnatural, I can't imagine a normal human woman who's capable of sitting down so gracefully while her hands are crossed. "Mostly cold iron tipped spears. Some have bronze. Better than the Fishermen."

I raise an eyebrow. "And their leader?"

"A bald thug with a large scar near his eye, he goes by the name of Ovin Bloodspear. He's been isolating himself in a small house and I couldn't get more than a brief look at him."

"Do you think they'll expect a visit from us this evening?"

She shrugs. "I believe they won't be surprised unless we sneak in. They have men watching the streets."

"Do you think we should sneak in?"

She shifts her legs to the side and turns to look at me, her hazel eyes peering into my own. "No. It was hard enough to sneak in on my own, it'll be harder to bring you with me. Even if we will, we'll be surrounded and alone, which will allow Ovin Bloodspear to dictate the terms. Yes you can kill some of his men, and I know that if we surprise them they won't all be ready for a fight, but I don't think you can fight over two hundred men with cold iron on your own, Mistress, no offense."

I smile. "None taken. Let me know when Ryon gets back, I need to know the situation at the gate before we proceed."

"Ah'm here." Ryon's voice comes from the nearby shadow of a building. With his black leathery outfit I didn't even notice he was standing there. "Da gang took da gate, they guard it now. Large gang, more than hundred."

Right... and unless Salik convinces the orcs to fight for him, we're cut off... Assuming this Ovin would want to join us, I could have him and the fishermen fight for the gate... for whatever good that'll do...

He grins and tilts his head, his green eyes giving out a faint catlike reflection of the light. "They wash with da water. They know ya have fire tricks and they wash up with da water against fire tricks. I told them you have da flying trick and you make da daggers fly at them and you have da screaming trick, they laughed at..."

I cut him off, my voice raised by a few pitches. "You told them?! Are you out of your snaking mind?!"

He snorts. "Ya, they laugh. They think I lie. They still wash up. I can go later an' say I told you so and they let me in their gang like a rat."

Right... it's not like knowing what I can do will stop me... and he placed himself in a perfect infiltration position if it's needed... I guess I was too harsh.

"Alright, you did good, Ryon. Let's get Shorr and move out. We really need to wrap this up, I can't imagine what's going on in Green Pear City if this is the mess we have here."

"They'll see us coming," Berthold notes, tugging a loose string out of his gambeson and using it to tie up the feathers to another arrow. "We won't have the element of surprise."

I nod. "I'm aware. But they still expect us in three days, and it'll throw some of them off guard. The element of surprise works with a few layers; Knowledge and expectations for example. Their current knowledge and expectations is that we'll be there in three days. Once we move out, that knowledge will change, true. However, the speed they adapt to a situation they did not expect matters. If we went in three days they'd have all of their five hundred men ready. Now they'll have half of that number. Even if this Ovin manages to bring out all of his men, they'll be too anxious about things going wrong, and that is something I can use to my advantage." Yeah... I'll make them kneel and lick my boots like good dogs... I take a deep breath to center myself. "I hope I won't have to. I'd rather not kill them."

"Why not? They're thugs, right?" Zoe asks. "They hurt the good people of this city."

I shake my head. "They're the people of this city who are forced into fending for themselves or dying. You'd be surprised what good men and women would do once their lives are at risk, once they're starving without food for days... No. I don't think they're thugs. I thought so earlier, but I was wrong. Look at this district, the people here are just trying to survive, they're not thugs. The same can't be said about those Flayers in the palace, or Marvu's raiders. Those are monsters I plan to eliminate without mercy."

"How do you know those Red Spears aren't monsters?" Zoe asks. "They fought with the Fishermen, right? If they want to hurt the Fishermen then I can't think that they're just good people. Otherwise they'd get along, right?"

I sigh. "If only the world worked like that."

Berthold nods. "The less people we kill, the better. I do agree about the Flayers, those people sound too rotten to be left alive."

I stand up and dust my purple skirts. "Come on, we've delayed long enough."

We make our way with a group of one hundred Fishermen toward the Red Spears base. As Sharla predicted, a party of them come out to meet us.

“Welcome y’oll. Please have a seat, if I knew you’d be coming today I would’ve prepared a celebration!” A bald man in a dirty brown gambeson leads a group of men with red spear armbands. I recognize him, it's the same man who saw me and ran away when I found out the fighting parties a few hours ago. The man who prodded my crown pool.

He's already scared of me, this is just theatrics... “I’ll pass on your celebration, I come in person as per your request. Now, bend the knee, or die!” Kneel my little dog... kneel!

A surprising amount of his men actually kneel, but the majority raise their weapons in my direction. I smile. I can easily block a hail of arrows or javelins, and even if I missed somehow, my new armor would block the weapons. I have nothing to worry about.

“Woah woah relax, y’oll! We’re not here to fight, are we?” The bald man raises his hands with an unpleasant smile that reaches his brown eyes. “Name’s Ovin, I lead the Red Spears, me and my men are willing to fight for you on two condition!”

“And these are?” I raise my eyebrow.

“The first: Teach me sorcery.”

“Sorcery?” I narrow my eyes at him. That makes an odd sense...

“I have the talent for it.” he gestures with his hand and vines grow out from the muddy street. “Discovered I could do some sorceries when the riots happen. Useful snakes these, but I’m interested in learning better tricks, feel me?”

I frown. “And what exactly are you going to do once you’ve learned better tricks?”

His scar twists with his smirk. “I’ll serve you for a time, then I’ll go conquer mah own city. Get in the game y’oll sorcerers have for yourselves, live the good life with the good worshipers of Jalier following mah word.”

I cross my hands and tap my foot. Yeah... Jerro's predictions are usually accurate, that was way too easy. “You’ll serve me for the next two years or until I release you. If I even sniff an intent at backstabbing, I’ll kill you on the spot.” I state the sting coldly, then add the honey. “After two years I’ll gift you with a city of your own, you can continue your ambitions from there.” I should be leaving the Gray islands by then, assuming the hag won't die.

“You can’t be serious!” Zoe interrupts angrily. “You’re accepting him as an apprentice?! Look at him. He’s a street thug! A bully! Sharla said he forced women to sell themselves for food!”

The man smiles without arguing against her accusations.

You won't challenge my authority openly, little pawn. You won't... Zoe takes a frightened step back. ugh stop!!! STOP! Focus... breathe... answer logically, not some manipulative insane notion of putting her in her place. And if those men see it as a weakness? Then so be it, I refuse to give into my base instincts when it comes to my friends.

I take a deep calming breath. “Do you have a better idea how to bring—oh I don't know—five hundred fighting men under you? Do you want us to fight them and Marvu's Raiders not to mention those Flayers without them? Sure, I can probably kill them all, but what then? Do I rule a city of corpses?” I shake my head. "As I said earlier, most of them should be normal men who found themselves in a bad situation, while I'm sure a few monsters hide within their ranks, we'll root them out once we get this place under proper order."

Zoe gulps and glances nervously between me and Ovin. I ignore her and turn to the bald thug. "Ovin. What's your second condition?"

The scar on his face twists like a red worm when the smile disappears from his face. “Shorr gives me some o’ those fishes he has, mah people are starving for them fishes.”

So you’re desperate… and you only win out of this deal… yet this feels too easy… what am I missing here? “Shorr?”

“When will your food shipments arrive?” The black-bearded man asks me. “There are people who count on this food.”

“If you have a boat, we can send a messenger right now, and I assume it’ll be here within a week or so.”

The black-bearded man nods. “Then I’ll hand over my food when I see these shipments, your men can wait for a week.” Shorr crosses his hands as if the agreement is settled.

“This is not how it works. If you want me to work with y’oll, you’ll give us food!” Ovin steps forward, calling out fiercely. “We ain’t working for free!”

“I can’t risk the lives of my people on words and promises!” Shorr doesn’t back off.

“And I can’t let mah men starve. Y’oll bring mah men food or we take it! Who do you think the sorceress will value more huh?! An apprentice who can do magic? Or a nobo…” Ovin doesn’t finish that sentence, he collapses gurgling with an arrow sticking out of his throat. It’s clear one of Shorr’s men fired it.

Shorr stares dumbfounded, he turns to his man. “You fool! Why…” Another arrow from one of Ovin’s men penetrates Shorr’s temple and he drops.

“Myrsha samir!” <Gravity protects!> The third arrow gets deflected by my defensive orange shield-bubble and drops to the ground. All hell breaks loose.

*~*~*

Interlude 117.1

Grokar

Grokar is a young wolf, healthy and strong. The only wolves he’ll ever fear are chief Balgrum and Second Wolf Agilla, but both of them aren’t here anymore, Grokar is now the strongest!

Grokar earned himself thirty-two new sheep by dueling other wolves. He only lost one of his sheep to the Blessed Rhino, but all the other wolves had lost one sheep to the Blessed Rhino and his weird demands.

Now Grokar has a nice herd of nearly a hundred sheep, he can’t feed them all. He decides to give some to the bitches he likes and some to the wolves who follow him so they’ll follow him longer, and now a new dumb sheep came to present itself to him.

Grokar looks with disdain at the naked human who attacked him with a fruit knife just an hour ago. The human curse as the whip cracks and forces him to run through the broken boneyard again. This is one of the best ways to tame mad sheep. After they are forced to run barefooted on broken bones and rocks three times, they usually become very tame.

But this mad sheep had already made its seventh run and it’s still cursing and swearing in its dog’s language. The boneyard is marred with blood, and the worthless human only stand due to the long whip marks on his back. Looks like there’s no choice, Grokar will have to use him as meat for jaws on his next great hunt; Maybe then this sheep will be tamed.

“Grokar!”

Grokar turns when he hears the echoing voice, the Blessed Rhino is here again. The other wolves cease their laughter and gather around when the armored human walks into their temporary camp. Grokar sneers at the pack of frightened dogs who keep their distance. No, not dogs, kittens and bunnies; Dogs have a bite.

The Blessed Rhino have earned the wolves’ admiration. Although he hides behind his thick metal shell and does not follow the bone chieftess in battle. Strength is strength, and when the wolves saw that each strike of his fist is followed by a flash of light, it became clear that one of the gods had blessed this rhino. Grokar can't wait to see what this Rhino can do with his mighty horn.

“Come fight me again, rhino?” Grokar stands up, reaching for his axe. “You won’t get sheep, law say law!” Grokar hates common gnome twisting tongue, but that’s the only thing the rhino understands. Grokar never understood why some wolves learn the gnome twisting tongue. Grokar himself only caught a few words by listening to sheep talking when he was a child, and Grokar is smart.

“You took one of the city’s residents as your slave. There are witnesses!” The rhino’s echoing voice is aggressive, demanding. It’s a good voice, powerful. Not like other humans, not like the sheep.

Grokar sneers at the scared dogs and sheep humans, they peek from the edge of the small encampment Grokar and his brothers made for sheep taming.

“Mad dog try kill me, his life mine. He sheep.” Grokar explains, making his best to move his jaws in the right way for gnome twisting tongue.

The blessed rhino looks at him from behind his visor, then turns around and shouts toward the edge of the camp. “James. Come here, right now!”

A scrawny dog steps into the camp hesitantly.

“Is this true? Did Moriz attacked the orc first?” The Blessed Rhino demands to know.

“No, milord! The savage grabbed him, Moriz tried to defend himself but…”

“Gragh! Human lie!” Grokar shouts furiously, no one can doubt his honor! No one! Grokar is about to throw his axe at the lying human when the steady rhino’s hand stops him.

“Are you attempting to deceive me?” the rhino asks the human in a threatening voice. “May I remind you that I’m a paladin of Noxi, God of Truth and Justice? I can see lies, no lies shall be uttered in my presence,” he continues.

Grokar relaxes his arm. His honor wasn’t defiled, the rhino is too wise to be deceived by a forked lizard's tongue.

The human stands there, shaking like a leaf, a wet patch appears on his crotch. Grokar sneers when he smells the urine, this mad dog reeks of fear. This one deserves to be kicked in the testicles, he shouldn’t spread his cowardly seed to females. “M-Moriz attacked first, milord… B-But he has a s-sick l-little girl b-back at home, n-no one will t-t-take c-care of her now… m-my wife has t-t-taken her in, and we have t-too many mouths to feed! P-please milord! Have mercy!”

Grokar snorts. Mercy. That’s for weak sheep and dogs. Humans, in other words. If you’re strong and can tame a strong female, you have the right to bear offspring and can protect them. If you’re weak, even if you’re lucky and a strong female tames you, your offspring will only have the female to protect them.

The Blessed Rhino breathes multiple times, the echoing breathes are loud in the silent encampment. Then the rhino steps toward the broken boneyard.

“You can’t take my sheep, Rhino!” Grokar shouts after him in alarm. He knows that the rhino is stronger, and if he truly decides to steal his sheep, Grokar will have to fight him for it. Grokar fears the rhino’s power. At least he’ll have his wolf brothers to help him, a pack of eight wolves fighting one rhino, they have a chance.

“I’m not taking anyone, I need to ask the man a couple of questions.” The echoing reply calms Grokar, the rhino is honorable, he never stoops to deceits like the other mad sheep and dogs.

“Moriz, right?” The rhino asks the sheep. The mad sheep nods, exhausted. “Why did you attack the orc? I need to know if I am to pass a sentence…”

The human stumbles, blood trickling down his scrawny old body. He points his finger at Grokar. “That rotting savage pissed on my son’s tree! My son! I’ve kept silence when the queen invited these savages into our city, when my sons died in her wars… I’ll be damned if I watch this barbarian desecrating my son’s tree! I’d rather die!”

Grokar laughs. Humans are stupid. “Why let tree eat your son? If you eat your son, you hafe his power. You don't hafe to defend tree with your small power. You…” Grokar backs off swiftly when the rhino’s blade touches his throat. “Grrrr… What you doing, Rhino?”

“Let him go, or I swear by Noxi’s name, I will kill you!” The rhino echoes with anger.

Grokar growls, he can’t understand why the rhino got mad at him, he did nothing wrong. But it doesn’t matter, every wolf knows that dogs are mad. Grokar raises his axe, ready to fight this rhino to the death.

His brothers unsheathe their axes, closing in to support him. This isn’t an honorable challenge, the rhino doesn’t have any right to challenge him. They are one pack, one tribe, one clan, and Grokar can use their help fighting him off.

The wolves split into four hunting pairs, circling the rhino from all sides, growling, eager for the blood of the mighty.

“May his light descend!” The rhino calls out. The bright light coming out of his armor stabs Grokar’s eyes.

"Ti-a'ark!" Grokar shouts his warcry and swings his axe forward. A sharp searing pain flashes around his neck, and he flies away, wind flowing on his face.

Why is he so light?

*~*~*

Power level: 3rd stage apprentice.
Mana pools status:
Crown-knot: Affinity 10: connected: 1 gem replenished per minute.
Neck-Bridge: Affinity 6: formed: max amount of gems drained per day: 79
Abdomen-storage: Affinity 5: formed: 16 gems. Conversion ratio: 6:1
Air: Affinity 4: formed: 26 gems
Fire: Affinity 2: formed: 13 gems
Light: Affinity 3: formed: 19/20 gems
Water: Affinity 6: formed: 39 gems
Earth: Affinity 1: formed: 6 gems
Wood: Affinity 2: formed: 13 gems
Gravity: Affinity 9: connected: 84/95 gems

Cantrip known:
Air: Shavi’s Breeze, Shavi’s Sword. Shavi’s Hair Dryer, Aria’s Enhanced Hearing. Aria’s Sonic Scream. Aria's Increased Voice.
Fire: Nuriss’ Flame. Effrat’s Firefly, Effrat’s Fire Breath. Sorladika's Lesser Heating. Nuriss’ Ignite. Oniga's Soap Creation.
Light: Noxi’s Light. Lako’s Blinding Light. Rika’s energy hand.
Water: Water Evocation, Water to Ice, Ice to Water, Water to Vapor, Vapor to Water, Mayan’s Icy Spike, Ayla’s Water Jet. Ayla’s instant freeze. Ayla's Flowing Shield. Ayla’s Freezing Vapors. Hot Water Conjuration. Boiling Waterjet.
Earth: Alice’s Oil Summoning, Reiko’s Acid Spray. Alf's Copper Bolt
Wood: Arigor’s Lesser Vines. Kolosu’s Vegetable Summoning.
Gravity: Lumina’s Kinetic Burst. Tukado’s Repulse. Tukado’s Lesser Shield II. Imari’s Minor Telekinesism. Imari’s Jump. Leo’s Pull. Leo’s Grounding. Alino’s Light Body. Alino’s Heavy Body. Alino's Orbiter.

Transmutation: Oniga's Laundry.

Spells known:
Light: Rika's Electric Channelb1
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb1x2. Tukado's Pushb1x3. Tukado’s defense IIIb1x4. Imari’s Lesser Flightb2.

Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison. Brigit’s Skin Restoration.

Focus capability: 18 patterns.

Social status: The Queen of Red Cedar City. Shaman of the Twin Moon Tribe. Inara, Daughter of Mysteries. Apprentice to the Maven of Mysteries. Sorceress.

Personal Wealth: 1465 Magic Gems. 1420 Golden Peas, 45 Silver Scales, 32 Copper Bits.

Personal Items:
Magical necklace. Contains 100 gems of general mana, can be drained like a mana pool. It’ll recharge by itself at the rate of five gems an hour.
1 potion of lightning body.
1 potion of mana, medium grade.
5 potions of Lesser Healing.
4 potions of Pain Tolerance.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keeps the pouches’ content fresh. Each pouch may contain 10g of petals or six potion flasks.
Glitter ingredients. (1 bag)
Fresh rose petals, 36g
Fresh lavender petals, 7g
10 empty soul bottles. Glass with a diamond stopper, put in scaled leather wrapping.
The Great White Egret grimoire. Dedicated by the Maven of mysteries to Inara. 30/100. Locked.

Present Companions:
Zoe
Sharlafyn Nettledew
Berthold
Ryon

Languages:
Toml’a <People’s tongue> Fluent
Sinteo <Speech> Fluent
Myrsha <Gravity> 8/10
Felul <Wind> 1/10
Nim <Water> 1/10
A'arkalu <Wolf Tongue> 3/10

Injuries and scars:

Curses:

Kingdom’s treasury: 3836 gold coins. 123 magical gems.

Kingdom’s citizen: 3,881 humans, 1,836 human children. Twin Moon Tribe: 1,158 orcs. 293 orc children. 529 sheep-slaves.

Kingdom's army: 1,1156 Orc Warriors. 324 Footmen. 49 Peacekeeper Knights.

Notables at Court:
Tasiya Keyholder.
Jolla SilverQuill.
Talbot Bookkeeper.
Marasi Chef extraordinaire (spymaster.)
Old Gardner Tiom.
Balgrum Orc Chieftain.

2023-11-20 09:23:15 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 117 in color

2023-11-20 09:22:23 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 116 colorless

Chapter 116 Gang War I.

Just like an archer who leads his shot.
Habits and path is the easiest way to kill a person.
Never stick to your habits.
Never become predictable.

Rakisha, Mother of all Demons.

After a few minutes walk through quiet and seemingly abandoned streets, we hear the sound of raging battle up ahead. Shouts, yelps, metal clinging against metals, and the screams of the dying creates a deathly cacophony of madness.

Once we turn the corner we can also see the battle that takes place at a street crossing. Men punching, clubbing, choking, and hurting one another in a destructive chaos of murder and mayhem. A man with a muddy white armband and a blue fish on it manages to limp out of the battle, panting. Only for a bald man to pounce on him from behind. The two fall to the ground in a pile, and while the man with the fish mark attempts to fight, the bald man is stronger. The fight ends with a dagger stabbed repeatedly into the torso of the loser.

The bald man stands back from his victim, panting. I note that his black armband has the mark of a red arrow on it, and that he has a scar that runs from his forehead to the edge of his mouth, crossing close to his left eye. The bald man pants heavily and raises his eyes to meet my own. For a brief moment I feel something brushing against my skull, a mana prodding. His brown eyes open wide and he turns to run, leaving the raging battle behind him.

I quickly prod him back. What I sense from him is a rather weak power. He has his wood and crown mana pools open, not even formed much less connected, open. This man is self taught. He probably awakened some form of magic during the chaos that took place in the city.

He's unimportant right now. I'll look for him later. According to Jerro, these are the two gangs who would be willing to follow me, and they’re fighting each other... great!

“I’m going to try and stop the fighting, but if I fail, we’re here to help the ones with the fish symbol on their arms. Sharla, hide somewhere. Ryon, make sure no one gets close to me. Berthold, find a good archery position for yourself. And Zoe, don’t overuse your magic, mana dehydration has some nasty side effects. Let’s go!”

“Kushjak!” <Oil!> I step forward, spraying the mass of fighting men with a steady stream of black oil from my hands. Most of them keep on fighting, only a few of them notice something is wrong and attempt to distance themselves from the melee, but they either get themselves killed from the attempt, or get dragged back into it soon enough.

One of them manages to break free and runs toward me with a spear and a loud war cry. He drops to his knee, Berthold’s arrow sprouting from his leg.

“Tans fiuak” <Loud bad sound.> I scream from the top of my lungs. The shrill scream stops the fighting in an instant, men flinch and cover their ears, some even trail blood from their ears. “Tans fe-lasiuak." <Loud words.> I cast, increasing my own voice.

"You’re covered in oil. If you won’t stop this insane fight this instant, I’m burning the lot of you. Fotyr.” <Fire.> I speak calmly with my magically enhanced voice, a flame forming in my palm as a threat.

My magical voice is carried over the stunned silence. The men slowly cease their fighting and distance themselves from one another, raising their weapons with caution etched on their bruised and dirty faces. Glancing nervously toward me and their opponents.

The wounded and the dead are left in the middle, covered in filth, oil, and blood. I see a man on his knees, collecting his intestines from the muddy ground, bowling loudly for his mother. Another crawls out of the battlefield, desperately trying to carry both of his dismembered legs.

“This madness has to stop! I came to take control over this city, and I do not wish to have more needless deaths. Fishermen, take me to your leader, we’re going to have a chat.”

The men with fish on their arms look at me awkwardly.

“And you, Red Arrows, go to…”

“It’s a spear!” one of them shouts.
"Red spears!" the other adds.

Like it even matters. I roll my eyes. “A spear, fine! Go to your leader, tell him to come and see me at the Fishermen's base if he wants to stay in power.” They all just stand there and look at me, dumbfounded. “What are you all waiting for? Go! Do I need to kill one of you to inspire fear? Is that what you guys want?!”

The red spears scurry out of there. They soon disperse to the streets on the left, leaving the Fishermen gang and the screaming wounded behind.

I walk toward the Fishermen and cancel my 'Increase Voice' cantrip. “Take me to your leader,” I command.

“What about the wounded?” a black-bearded man with a bloodied fish armband asks. His voice is a low gruff more akin to a growl.

“Take those who can be saved with you, I don’t care what side they’re on, and kill those who can’t be saved.” I don’t have healing potions for all of them, and I’m not about to waste my own and put myself or my friends at risk for a bunch of thugs…

He nods and gestures for his gang. They get to work, dragging wounded and cutting throats. Instead of joining his men, the black-bearded man walks by my side. “Name’s Shorr, I lead the Fishermen,” he offers a bloodied and callused hand for a shake.

I shake his beefy hand. He’s nearly two meters tall, my head barely reaches his long black beard, but with my slow growth I am used to being the shortest person in the room. “Good to meet you, saves me the time to go looking for you. I’m here to bring order back to this city. Play your cards right, and you’ll find yourself in a position of power.”

His broad shoulders are twice as wide as my own, and with his height, I have to lean my head back to look him in the eye. The smile under his beard reaches his brown eyes. “And if I play 'em wrong?” I have a feeling he’s still underestimating me, he’ll learn.

“Then you’ll end up dead in a ditch somewhere,” I reply dryly. There’s no need to cover it with pixie dust for you, cross me, and I’ll kill you.

The smile doesn’t leave his bearded face. “Blunt. So how do I play ma cards right?”

“Help me recover this city, help me keep its residents alive. As long as you obey my command, you can become the next ruler of Apricot City under me. I’m not here to stay. I have another city to bring into the fold.”

He grunts and hums in his low voice before speaking again. “Another city, I’ve heard Queen Phoebe kicked the bucket. Are you Queen Tiara or Queen Inara? Your names are confusing. How did you two split that pie?”

I raise an eyebrow; Too many people in these cities just blindly worshiped me like a chosen of their god. It's refreshing that he doesn't. But I can't afford niceties right now. Under normal circumstances I'd have him speak casually with me, but now I need him to obey, and obey he shall. “Inara… Last time I saw Phoebe she was missing her arms, legs, and tongue, but very much alive.” He backs off with fear clear in his brown eyes. No more looking down on me, huh? I inhale through my nose, his bloody grimy smell turning into a pleasant soft scent of anemones and cinnamon. My lips curve into a grin. “Relax! Not my doing, she had other enemies. If it was up to me she'd be headless too. I don't really bother with torturing my enemies, I don't see the point. If someone becomes a threat, I end them.”

He nods thoughtfully. “Won’t say I’m sad to see her gone, she wasn’t a good queen. Your Grace, if I may ask…”

Good. Back into your line and lick my boots, my little dog... “Ask away.”

“Thank you, Your Grace. Do you care about the people’s well-being? Or do you simply want to ensure there’s order and tax income from this place?”

Now I have to establish his undying loyalty to me and he's my good pawn... “Shorr?” I take a step back and look into his brown eyes. “I’ll pay you a gold coin for every person you can save and two gold coins for every child saved. I’m here to save as many as I can and kill anyone who’ll try and harm the people of this city, they’ve suffered enough!”

“Good! You don’t have to pay me a copper, Your Grace, this city needs a monarch who cares for it.” Stop it! Just stop! I force my face back into a neutral expression as he drops to one knee, despite my insane urge to smile. “I pledge allegiance to Queen Inara, as long as she serves the people I shall serve her with everything I have!”

He remains on one knee, with his head lowered. Do I really need to play with people's hearts like that? Why do I give into my base instincts so much? Why can't I just tell him what I want without all the manipulations and the drama? Why do I have to...

He's waiting for a response, it wouldn't do to keep my new little pawn waiting...

UGH!!! “I accept your oath, rise! And let’s save this mad city.”

About half an hour later we are on our way to the docks. After the fishermen gang moves a series of wooden barricades and clears a passages in the debris littered street, we walk through a small narrow kill zone that this gang had prepared. I eye the bowmen in the windows on both sides. This kill zone wouldn't be a threat to me, but they could easily stop a small army in this narrow passage.

Once we cross their makeshift gate, we're in the docks district. The people here look way better than the ones at the city entrance. They aren’t skeletons in skin for once, and some semblance of city life is being carried out. A small market with goods and customers, guards wearing the fish armbands at every corner, and even children playing in the dry and somewhat clean streets.

I thought this guy was a thug leading a gang… not this… I may have been too harsh on him… “I apologize for being harsh on you, Shorr, I thought you were a brainless thug leading a gang… You’re doing a good job protecting the peace here.”

He moves his hand in his black beard with a gentle smile. “Doing ma best. We control the only active food source in the city, it allows us this much. Hunger is a cruel mistress, and our stores are dwindling, we’re already rationing as it is.”

I can see the abundance of fish in the market stalls. “I’m guessing that’s fish, hence the name?”

He chuckles. “Most of us are fishermen by trade, when the riots happened we banded together to keep our neighborhood safe. That’s why we’re called the fishermen.”

“Makes sense. Tell me about the riots.”

His brown eyes darken for a moment. “The criers announced that Queen Phoebe lost her battle at Red Cedar, and the city is now under the rule of Queen Inara. I mean yours, Your Grace… hrm… There was a week of peace, but none of the levy Queen Phoebe took ever came back home. People figured they were all lost. We grieved but continued with our lives, not much we can do about it…”

He sighs, smoothing a thin scar on his large palm. “Administer Shabil Gemhand was managing the city as usual, but a week after that announcement—while everyone were grieving and planting trees for their dead—Lord Gemhand disappeared. I don’t know what happened to him, or any of the royal council. You hear all kinds of stories. Some say they just left us, others say they got killed by Marvu and his band, some crazy ones even claim a flying mosquito monster killed them all, if you can believe madness like that. All I know is Marvu and his band of bandits showed up at our gates the next day. They killed all the guards and took away people and food. From that point, people were just trying to survive…”

Gemhand again... does this family spread across this island? Is Olfgram even the head of the family? And if not, who is the head of the family? That's irrelevant at the moment. I focus on Shorr again.

Shorr shakes his head to himself, fists clenched. “Your Grace, not to sound ungrateful, but where were you until today?” He gathers his courage to ask.

“Rebuilding Red Cedar City from the wreckage Queen Pheobe left it at, and dealing with a foreign soul trying to take over my body. If I had known things were this bad, I’d have send some forces sooner, but my Spymaster assured me everything was fine… He has a lot to answer for…” I should’ve appointed Sharla to the role of a Spymaster from the moment she came back… but I was too busy with Luard’s stupid soul! All over my snaking morals! “I’m sorry. I am not trying to avoid my responsibility in this. Some of what happened to you and your people is the fault of my own negligence, but I’m here now, and I’ll do whatever I can to help. How long will your food last?”

He scratches his thick beard and thinks about my question or answer for a long moment. “I... I see. Food? I’d say about a month, but we can stretch that with rationing, if I can free enough of ma men to fish in the river, we'll last even longer.”

I cross my hands surveying the bustling market. Ryon is already hitting on a young woman and offering her food. Berthold makes some conversation with a group of guards. Sharla charms a small group of middle aged women into gossip. while Zoe sticks closely to me, eyeing me with awe and worship that makes me flinch. “A month is plenty, I’ll send shipments of food from Red Cedar City, we’ll buy more from other cities if need be.”

He sighs in relief. “That is good to hear.”

I ignore Zoe and focus on the big man who rules this district. “Please tell me about the other gangs.”

“The ‘Red Spears’ has a stash of iron weapons, they’re our immediate threat. They’re trying to take over the docks in order to take our food and trade those weapons away, but merchants don’t dock here anymore or we wouldn’t have a food shortage.”

He sighs and continues, scratching his thick beard. “There are ‘Marvu’s Raiders’, the band of bandits who started this mess. They control the city gates. Marvu and his bandits sell citizens as slaves to a bunch of bandits and slavers out of town in exchange for gold, food, and weapons.”

"Wait." I raise my hand. "If Marvu's Raiders control the city gate, how come it was unguarded when I entered? There was only a really small gang of teenagers who watched the gates from afar. Wouldn't it make sense for them to seal the gate and control who comes and who goes?"

"Hrm. They let people in. The gate is probably fortified now that they know you're a mage. Or maybe not. I don't know enough about that part of the city, it's too far from the docks."

Right... "What about the last gang?"

“Last gang is the ‘Flayers’. These are mad men who barricaded themselves in the palace with all the food storages the palace has. They kill anyone who gets too close, they flay and impale their victims at the palace’s gates as a warning.”

“A pleasant bunch…”

“A bunch of madmen! That’s what they are. We’re the only ones trying to keep the peace, I’m relieved you chanced upon us first.”

I smile at him. “That’s not a coincidence. Another question, are people getting sick?”

“Yes, we quarantine the sick in an old storehouse, we had to burn the place and switch to another storehouse since many of them had died and the place was rotting. It wasn’t an easy choice…” His voice fades and the glint in his eyes darkens.

“But it was the right one, good work!” I’ll need to learn a lesser cure disease spell… If only my grimoire wasn't locked! Or maybe a potion… probably easier to distribute… Let’s stabilize the situation first, then heal the sick… I hope I can heal them…

“Thank you, Your Grace.”

“Headsman!” One of the men wearing a fish armband gets closer. “Ovin from the Red Spears sent a messenger, for the sorceress lady.”

“Get him over here!” I command. The man only does as I asked once he gets a nod of approval from Shorr.

A couple of minutes later, a man with a terrible mohawk haircut approaches us under an armed escort. “Your Grace,” he says with a theatrical dramatic bow. “Word from Ovin: You want us to bend the knee? You come in person! That’s all. Can I go now?”

This is a trap… What is he going to do once I get there? He controls the iron weaponry… there are plenty of options… I’d rather avoid fighting in the city’s streets, if this can be solved by words then I have to try… Besides, he needs to get close to me with iron, if he can’t touch me, it won’t help him much… and I have plenty of magical defenses to keep iron away… kinetic defense, orbiter, my armor, water barrier that I can always freeze…

“Tell your leader I’ll come over once I finish my business here, should last me about three days.” And now he’ll think he has three days to prepare for me…

“As you wish, Your Grace~,” the man's tone is a mocking one, he gives me another theatrical bow. With a nod from Shorr, the Fishermen lead the messenger back to their makeshift gate.

“It’s a trap,” Shorr states the obvious, once the man disappears.

“I’m aware, but I’d rather avoid fighting on the streets if I can help it. His iron doesn’t threaten me as much as he thinks it does. I might end up fighting and killing him if he’s too persistent. You can tag along with your men if you want, but I’ll be fine on my own too.” Sounds like they respect strength, it’ll be more impressive if I take down a bunch of them on my own… more likely to stop fighting faster… Jerro did say that the Red Spears will be loyal to me…

Shorr nods. “I’ll make sure ma men are ready in three days then, what will you…”

“No.” I cut his sentence. “I’m going in tonight.”

“Tonight? But…”

I answer before he can finishes the question. “I want Ovin to think he has three days to prepare his ambush, but I’m going to drop there tonight, unannounced. It’ll give him a good excuse to attack me at the very least.”

Shorr nods in affirmative. “He'll notice us if we get too close to his district. He has men watching the streets."

I shrug. "Maybe so, but how fast can he prepare his men to face us? He'll be caught off guard."

"Very well, I’ll make the preparations.” He turns to leave.

I hold his beefy arm, I can't even wrap my palm around it. “A few more questions before you go.”

He turns with a grunt. “I’m listening.”

“Do you have people watching the other gangs too?”

“Of course.”

I raise an eyebrow. “So they’ll warn us if they’ll make a move.”

“Yes.”

“Good, tell me something about Marvu, if I send a beautiful woman his way, will he keep her to himself? Or sell her?”

“I wouldn’t know, I’ve never met the man face to face and ma information in that part of the city is vague.”

So if I’m sending Sharla there, I’m sending her in blind… I can’t do that. “That’ll be all.”

Shorr nods and leave.

“Sharla?” I whisper as I glance at the fairy who's currently surrounded by a group of middle aged gossiping women.

She tilts her head to show she heard me, hugs three of them and kisses their cheeks before getting back to my side. She folds her hands under her breasts. “Yes, Mistress? Do you want me to seduce my way to that Marvu?”

“No. It's too risky and I don’t want to lose you over a battle I can probably win without the cloak and dagger. I want you to blend in this part of town, you shine in places of order anyway. Talk to the people, see what you can find about this Shorr and his fishermen. What kind of people are we dealing with here, and what kind of rotten snakes does he hide under his bed... if any.”

She smirks, the right corner of her mouth going higher than the left. "I already have a few rotten snakes, Mistress. He burned a bunch of sick and elderly people alive, they hate him for it. He also allegedly killed a man before the riots started. Some here really like him, almost worshiping him. Others see him as a necessary evil in order to stay alive. Want me to find out more?"

"Was the murder proven?"

She tucks a little bit of graying hair behind her ear. "Not that I know of. It's a rumor. A fishing dispute. It could've been an accident, but most murders appear like accidents first, Mistress. I could look into it if it's important to you."

"No. It's not. Even if he did murder someone it's irrelevant for the current state of affairs. As long as he's not mass murdering people, raping women, or harming children, I really don't care what he may or may have not done in the past. Do you think you can possibly sneak into the Red Spears base with Ryon and come back with some proper information? Numbers, weapons, the way their leader looks like, that sort of thing. I also want to know how do they treat the civilians under their care. Do they rape women and hurt children? Or simply don't let them into their base?"

“I don't need Ryon, it'll be better if I move on my own. It’ll be done, Mistress.” She covers her head with her hood and disappears into an alleyway.

“Ryon." I call out and make him turn from the young blond woman he's engaged with. "I want you to check on the city gate, see if they're still abandoned or if a gang took over and have closed the gates. If the gates are secured, find us another way out of the city if you can."

“After I snake,“ he answers, chewing on a piece of jerky. The woman at his side backs off from him with a her eyes open wide. She slaps him when he takes a step toward her and leaves with a huff.

I snicker. “Sure. Good luck with that. I need you to be back here by sundown, I want you around when we meet this Ovin character.”

“Ye,” he answers with a mouth full of food, rubbing his sore cheek.

“What about me?” Zoe asks.

“We’re sticking together. Let’s get some rest, tonight is going to be busy.”

*~*~*

Interlude 116.1

Moriz

Moriz sighs as he patrols the apple groveyard. It’ll be time for the harvest soon, just a little bit longer. He just came from the orange groveyard in the north, trees needed to be replanted over the correct bodies after the devastation the war had caused. He made sure everything was alright there, and now it’s the apples’ turn.

He can’t help but sigh again when he thinks about his Vivi. His only surviving family in this world, now lying sick in bed. He tried going to the Queen when she handed potions and remedies to the people, but the potion did not work on his sick daughter.

And the Queen just left her own city after bringing death and destruction to it, Moriz’s two sons had died for her and she can’t even give him a potion that works. This damn new General won’t let him petition to the Queen, he wouldn’t let anyone petition to that damned Queen.

“Snake the General… snake the Queen…” Moriz mutters as he moves his hand on a tree stub. He looks around in fear, this is treason. He shouldn’t say his thoughts aloud, if anyone overhears them he might lose his head. What will Vivi do without her father? Everyone knows how temperamental sorcerers are, they are famous for their fury, especially those with red hair.

A loud snort attracts his attention. Moriz freezes. A savage orc walks between the apple trees, the beast is nearly three meters tall and the stinking furs it wears should be burned and buried somewhere no civilized men should ever step. Moriz watches the savage with eyes filled with hatred. The Queen shouldn’t have brought these beasts to the city, they should go back to the forest where they belong!

Moriz’s heart misses a beat when the orc stops near Moriz’s tree and reaches for his belt. Moriz’s son is buried under that tree. Moriz panics as he sees the orc mumbling something in its growling language and touches the tree. The orc unbuckles his fur belt and pisses on the tree like the wild savage he is.

Moriz’ flushes with anger. That’s it! He gave his two sons to that Queen, he gave a son to the King before him, Jalier demands it, but he’ll be damned if he watches a savage desecrating his son’s tree and do nothing! Moriz closes on the orc from behind and uses his pruners to stab the orc again and again.

His vision fills with red as the savage shouts in his language. He had enough of these savages, and he has nothing to live for anymore. His daughter is going to die soon, his wife and three sons are long dead. Let the Queen and her lackeys execute him, let him be buried under a tree so another savage can piss on it, Moriz is done with this mad world.

*~*~*

Power level: 3rd stage apprentice.
Mana pools status:
Crown-knot: Affinity 10: connected: 1 gem replenished per minute.
Neck-Bridge: Affinity 6: formed: max amount of gems drained per day: 79
Abdomen-storage: Affinity 5: formed: 16 gems. Conversion ratio: 6:1
Air: Affinity 4: formed: 26 gems
Fire: Affinity 2: formed: 13 gems
Light: Affinity 3: formed: 19/20 gems
Water: Affinity 6: formed: 39 gems
Earth: Affinity 1: formed: 6 gems
Wood: Affinity 2: formed: 13 gems
Gravity: Affinity 9: connected: 84/95 gems

Cantrip known:
Air: Shavi’s Breeze, Shavi’s Sword. Shavi’s Hair Dryer, Aria’s Enhanced Hearing. Aria’s Sonic Scream. Aria's Increased Voice.
Fire: Nuriss’ Flame. Effrat’s Firefly, Effrat’s Fire Breath. Sorladika's Lesser Heating. Nuriss’ Ignite. Oniga's Soap Creation.
Light: Noxi’s Light. Lako’s Blinding Light. Rika’s energy hand.
Water: Water Evocation, Water to Ice, Ice to Water, Water to Vapor, Vapor to Water, Mayan’s Icy Spike, Ayla’s Water Jet. Ayla’s instant freeze. Ayla's Flowing Shield. Ayla’s Freezing Vapors. Hot Water Conjuration. Boiling Waterjet.
Earth: Alice’s Oil Summoning, Reiko’s Acid Spray. Alf's Copper Bolt
Wood: Arigor’s Lesser Vines. Kolosu’s Vegetable Summoning.
Gravity: Lumina’s Kinetic Burst. Tukado’s Repulse. Tukado’s Lesser Shield II. Imari’s Minor Telekinesism. Imari’s Jump. Leo’s Pull. Leo’s Grounding. Alino’s Light Body. Alino’s Heavy Body. Alino's Orbiter.

Transmutation: Oniga's Laundry.

Spells known:
Light: Rika's Electric Channelb1
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb1x2. Tukado's Pushb1x3. Tukado’s defense IIIb1x4. Imari’s Lesser Flightb2.

Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison. Brigit’s Skin Restoration.

Focus capability: 18 patterns.

Social status: The Queen of Red Cedar City. Shaman of the Twin Moon Tribe. Inara, Daughter of Mysteries. Apprentice to the Maven of Mysteries. Sorceress.

Personal Wealth: 1465 Magic Gems. 1420 Golden Peas, 45 Silver Scales, 32 Copper Bits.

Personal Items:
Magical necklace. Contains 100 gems of general mana, can be drained like a mana pool. It’ll recharge by itself at the rate of five gems an hour.
1 potion of lightning body.
1 potion of mana, medium grade.
5 potions of Lesser Healing.
4 potions of Pain Tolerance.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keeps the pouches’ content fresh. Each pouch may contain 10g of petals or six potion flasks.
Glitter ingredients. (1 bag)
Fresh rose petals, 36g
Fresh lavender petals, 7g
10 empty soul bottles. Glass with a diamond stopper, put in scaled leather wrapping.
The Great White Egret grimoire. Dedicated by the Maven of mysteries to Inara. 30/100. Locked.

Present Companions:
Zoe
Sharlafyn Nettledew
Berthold

Languages:
Toml’a <People’s tongue> Fluent
Sinteo <Speech> Fluent
Myrsha <Gravity> 8/10
Felul <Wind> 1/10
Nim <Water> 1/10
A'arkalu <Wolf Tongue> 3/10

Injuries and scars:

Curses:

Kingdom’s treasury: 3836 gold coins. 123 magical gems.

Kingdom’s citizen: 3,881 humans, 1,836 human children. Twin Moon Tribe: 1,158 orcs. 293 orc children. 529 sheep-slaves.

Kingdom's army: 1,1156 Orc Warriors. 324 Footmen. 49 Peacekeeper Knights.

Notables at Court:
Tasiya Keyholder.
Jolla SilverQuill.
Talbot Bookkeeper.
Marasi Chef extraordinaire (spymaster.)
Old Gardner Tiom.
Balgrum Orc Chieftain.

2023-11-16 09:38:51 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 116 in color

2023-11-16 09:37:53 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 115 colorless

Chapter 115 Human Misery.

Mortals without a leader,
are like clay before drying.
Ready to be molded and shaped.
Ready to do anything to survive.
Once a leader arise and shape them.
They’ll die to protect their values.

Rakisha, Mother of all Demons.

We pass through the wooden gates on foot. Zoe and Berthold flank me from both sides. Ryon walks in the front, looking everywhere at once. And Sharla wears a shape of a middle-aged unattractive woman in order not to draw too much attention to herself.

One-story wooden housings are the most common around here, crows are crowding the slanted rooftops, occasionally swooping down to taste the bodies scattered on the bloodied streets. These are bodies of all kinds, from children to the elderly. They are thrown out in the sun without care, their bloodied empty eyeholes stare into the clear sky above.

The bodies are at different stages of decomposing, and the bugs swarming them tell me I’ll probably have to deal with a plague in addition to the gang wars. Most of the older bodies are spotting stab wounds, but the newer bodies seem to have died from hungar and disease, the sigh of their shrunk skin along with the unbearable smell brings a bile of acid to my mouth.

The city can’t wait for its rightful queen! I heard they’ve prepared a party for you a month ago… I repeat Marasi words in my head. Yeah, right! When I get back to Red Cedar, I’m going to squeeze his little neck and pop his peaskull like a nut!

A group of young and dirty men exposes themselves from behind one of the houses. They carry makeshift weapons and armor of all kinds. Rusty swords and knives, crooked spears, forks, and pikes. Wooden shields that have been roughly hammered together from furniture that had been repurposed.

A bald middle-aged man leads them, biting into a half-rotten apple. “Oy travelers, turn back, nothing to see ‘ere, only death.” His smile is missing a bunch of teeth, his face bruised, but there are a pair of keen brown eyes behind the bruises.

“Thanks for the kind warning, stranger, but I’ll take my chances,” I reply curtly, observing the young men behind him. Most of them are too young, in their late teens, some of them are even in their early teens. Not a real threat. “Can you lead us to the Fishermen’s territory?”

One of the teens behind him whispers something about taking our stuff only for another to kick his foot. The bald man is the one to speak. “Ah, you’re looking for sanctuary. They no longer take people in, you better take your chances with the monsters outside.”

“Just take us there,” I insist.

His face creases into a smile, “nothing is free in the world.”

I tuck my hair out of my face. “I suppose not, what would you like in return?”

His large predatory grin shows a couple of black teeth in his mouth in addition to the missing ones. “I’m a sucker for redheads. An hour in the hay with you, my dear, and my men and I will lead you past the other gangs to the safety of the fishermen. I can even convince them to let you in.”

Ew… I’ll pass... “Ask for something else, I can bring you food.”

The teens behind him react excitingly to the word food, and I can hear a few of them suggesting to take my food forcefully only to be silenced by the others. “Oh? You had food to offer, you should’ve said so from the start!” the bald man's exclaims. His tiny brown eyes still dart around my body in a way that makes me want to wash.

I take out a small pile of Jerky from the bag on Berthold’s shoulders and hand them to the bald man, doing my best to suppress my disgust.

The man snatches the meat from my arms and chews on a piece like a starved wolf, a few of the teens attempt to snatch a piece, only for him to slap their hands.

“Wouldn’t it be better to ration it with this famine?” I raise an eyebrow at him. "Your men seem hungry..." Snake this man, I'll take one of the teens to show me around...

“Heh, dunno if I’ll live tomorrow. I’m a man of my word, and I wasn’t always… this.” He gestures at himself with a sigh. He eyes the remaining pile of meat, splits into seven semi-equal parts and hands each to one of the seven young boys who follow him. The group makes the meat disappear in a blink of an eye. “Follow me to the Fishermen, folks!” He turns and march down the street.

Ok... I guess I misjudged him... I bet he's extremely hungry and he still gave these boys his meat... Dire times makes everyone into monsters, I should know that best... It's amazing he still kept some sense of dignity... We follow the man, when Ryon puts a hand on my shoulder and whispers in my ear. “He be leading you to his gang buddies, he lies!”

Right… I was too naïve! “I haven’t caught your name?” I ask the bald man.

“I never gave it, name’s Gushar.”

“Right, Gushar? If you’re leading us into an ambush, there’ll be a hell to pay. And by hell, I do mean hell… Fotyr” <Fire> The flames in my palm flickers in an intimidating manner. “If you come clean now, I’ll let you leave with all of your bits intact, but if you insist that you know the way, then lead me and my friends to an ambush… I’ll tear you off bit by bit, then grill and hand these bits to your starving men as you watch, am I clear?”

The boys tense up, aiming their weapons at me with shaky hands. One of them breaks off and runs into a nearby alleyway only to be tripped by Ryon. Ryon presses a knee into the boy's back and presses a dagger against his throat without drawing blood. Berthold draws his bow fully, aiming at the two young men with knives in their hands. Zoe raises her hand, preparing herself to cast a spell. While Sharla disappears like she was never there.

Gushar backs off and falls on his ass, raising his hands defensively. “Ok ok. You got me! I can’t get you to the Fishermen. I’m with Marvu’s raiders. We're supposed to watch the gates. I had no idea you’re a sorceress, Your Grace. Please don’t hurt me!”

Phew… Ryon’s experience really comes in handy with these things… “Do you know the way to the Fishermen?”

“Yes, but they’ll kill me if I get too close.” He still holds his hands between me and his head, looking fearfully at the flickering flame in my hand.

“Just give me directions then.”

“Head north, to the docks. Please don’t hurt me!”

Right! That's where the river is... Should’ve thought of that… I disperse the flames. “Thanks. You may want to try your chances outside the city with the monsters...” I give him the same advice he gave me. In his defense, there's something decent about him, he split the meat with the boys and he tried to make us leave the city before he tried leading us into his ambush. Or maybe he had an ambush outside as well? "Let them go." I order my group. Ryon releases the young man and Berthold lowers his bow.

Gushar lets out a nervous chuckle, gets up, and runs toward the open gates, followed by his small group.

“Thanks, Ryon, good catch!” I pat his shoulder.

“You welcome, can I have jerky? Or we eat when we get to da’ Fishers? I’m hungry! Agilla don’ lemme eat her food before I snake her.”

Right… I hand him a piece of meat. "There. I need you sharp. We’re headed north, keep your eyes peeled.”

"I thought you'd kill them," Berthold comments, eyes still darting around the deserted corpse littered street.

"Should I?" I raise an eyebrow.

"NO!!! Ahem... I mean, no." Berthold looses his grip on the bow, face awash with red.

"What is it, Berthold?"

"Why did you threatened that man like that?" he inquires instead of answering me.

Why really? The answer is simple. "Because it was the quickest way to expose whether or not they're leading us to an ambush or not. The ambush isn't something he could control. It's not something he could've told me what I wanted to hear. Were you expecting me to serve him cookies and tea?"

Berthold snorts. "Would you have done it though? Cut off... you know..."

"What?! Ew! No! I'd just blow off his head or something."

Berthold shakes his head and mumbles under his breath. "Ew... no I'd just blow up his head in a gory beautiful exposition that covers me with lots of ew blood..."

I feel the blood rushing to my face and I glance at the others. Aside from Sharla who gives me a teasing smirk they don't seem like they've heard his words. "And arrow that's sticking out of someone's eye is so beautiful, Berthold. The very picture of beauty!"

He grimaces and backs off a step. "S-sorry. I didn't realize I was l-loud." The clear fear in his big blue eyes hurts me in more than one way.

I cross my hands on my chest and turn to face him. "Berthold... I'm not going to harm you, ok? You're a friend. You're all like family to me. I pretty much walked up to an army to save Lezere. You can criticize me as much as you want, and you can do it to my face. I won't hurt you for it. I might not agree, but I'll listen. Now, did you have a problem with how I conducted myself?"

He looks into my eyes for a long moment, then shakes his head and steps ahead in the stinking street.

What's his snaking problem?

I advance with the rest of my group, and soon enough we assume our original formation, eyeing the alleyways and rooftops for potential threats. As we advance further into the city, we see more living people. They sit down at the side of the earthy streets, or peek from the windows. These men and women are malnourished, most of them stare at a vague spot with hollowed eyes, while some follow us with their eyes. Coughs and low whispers is the only sounds to be heard.

There are no corpses here. These people are at least smart enough to stay away from the corpses or to carry them toward the gate area.

A group of malnourished men comes out of an alley to block our way. There are about twenty of them, all holding makeshift weapons that look in an even worse condition than the weapons the teens at the gates had, and very few of them have bladed weapons, mostly wooden bats with bronze nails in them. “Give us your food!” Their leader demands. “All of it!”

“I’m here to solve your food and gang war problems, give me a couple of days and you won’t have to worry about food.” I reply with an attempt to smile, but it's hard to smile with the sights around me. This is all my fault! If I hadn't delayed. If I hadn't insisted on some stupid morals this wouldn't have happened... If I hadn't insisted that I can't consume human meat and got stuck possessed by Luard's soul, they wouldn't have to suffer! Was it worth it?! Is my conscience clean now?!

I couldn't have known. If I had, I'd avoid Luard's soul to begin with and just travel here first...

If, if, if, would've, should've, excuses! At the end, my precious high morals got hundreds of people to die in misery. Stabbed in the back, starving to death, disease... how many more will have to die just so I can keep my conscience clean? Why can't I just do what needs to be done?!

Or... I'm looking for an excuses to eat human meat... just so I can get stronger...

My fault in this doesn't matter right now. I'm here, so how do I help these people?

I can import food from red cedar, I believe we have an excess there due to the deal with Gemhand… and too many people died... Will it be enough to feed them all? Should be, at least for a while, many of them had died, so there are less mouths to feed here too…

"Master? What do we do?" Zoe's voice wakes me up from my daze. She's backing off, her hands raised. Berthold steps back by her side, his bow half drown. Ryon holds a dagger and a small crystalline device in his hand, and Sharla is missing again.

The men step forward and circle us, raising their clubs in a threatening manner. “Hod myrsha!” <Ground pull!> I call out on an instinct when one of them is about to club my face.

The guy collapses with a loud sickening crunch; Both of his legs bent in an unnatural way. The rest of the group scream and runs toward the same alleyway they came from and down the streets.

Not just them. All the people who were sitting out on the streets run away. They disperse into the houses and alleyways, clear fear replacing their apathy. Wooden windows and doors are slammed, and after less than a minute the earthy street is silent and empty, bathing in merciless sunlight.

The man with the broken legs on the ground in front of me wails in pain. He squirms on the ground, trying to crawl toward his club, as if it'd help.

"Did you have to break his legs?" Berthold demands to know, I can hear the blame in his voice.

I grimace. "I didn't mean to..." I am here to help them, not hurt them. I don’t blame them for trying to rob me, but I guess I also don’t care that much about their lives. If they persisted, I’d kill a few to scare them off or kill them all if they kept coming. Why am I so cold about it? Can’t I at least sympathize with these people? Can’t I feel sorry for them? I don’t know them… I’ve seen plenty of death… I’m going to do my best to help them, but apathy helps me stay sane, nothing is wrong with it… It's my fault they're dead! Mine! Apathy... I doubt I can save this man... I should kill him... it'll end his pain...

I kneel near the crying man. He looks at me with a pair of horrified gray eyes. I can't kill him! not like this... I've been where he is, not the exact same, but I know the feeling... he wants to live. I won't kill him! Snake my apathy. "I'm... I'm sorry... I didn't mean to break your legs, I just wanted to make you fall and miss your swing. I'm here to help, I want to save the people of this city, this includes you too." I hand him a pain resistance potion. "This will help with your pain. I cannot heal your legs, but I'm going to..."

*Wooosh*

Something sharp touches my back lightly with a tap. With a rapid heartbeat, I turn to see an arrow falling to the ground and a nervous brown eyed archer standing on one of the nearby rooftops. My new armor just saved my life.

I am about to attack my assailant, but Berthold beats me to it. He draws and losses an arrow in a fluid motion. The man gurgles and falls off the slanted rooftop, clutching the arrow in his throat.

“We take cover!” Ryon declares, leading Sharla and Zoe to an alleyway. I follow suit, and Berthold follows us, scanning the rooftops and windows with his bow half drown.

I focus on the wounded man who's laying on the ground. He reaches for the potion I gave him and gulps it like it'll save his life. An arrow sprouts from his body, he stiffens for a moment before his shoulders slump, the rest of the potion spilled on the earthy street. I close my eyes and feel Zoe's hand on my shoulder.

This is all my fault! If I had only eaten Luard's without worrying about...

STOP! Enough. Focus. No time for this now. I need to make some sense in my morals, but I'll do it later. Now I need to focus.

“I’m gonna check for more!” Ryon climbs the nearby house like an agile cat, using the window and gutter as footholds. I hear him running to the other rooftops. We spend about two minutes waiting, before we hear some shouting from nearby. Ryon comes back a minute later. “I kill two. No more thugs to kill, we go,” he says, sliding down from the rooftop.

"Venom... I hate killing people." Berthold mutters under his breath and shakes his head.

Zoe shifts and places her hand on his shoulder now. "I know, it's bad, but he tried to kill us, and his group killed the poor man on the street. You did the right thing. We did the right thing."

“Please! Your Grace!” A malnourished middle-aged woman stumbles out of the house near us. “You have to save my baby! He’s sick. He’s going to die!”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know how to treat diseases. I can’t help you. I’ll come back later.” I came to save the city, I can’t stop and help individuals. I know this what Kolag would do, but it’s impractical. Besides. I don’t know how to treat diseases yet, I think there should be a cure disease spell, but I haven’t learned it… and now my grimoire is locked and I can't learn it anyway... maybe a potion? I think I saw a potion like that in the alchemy book…

The woman kneels and tugs my skirts. “Some food then? Please? We’re starving!”

“Here.” Zoe offers the woman some bread. “We’re good sorcerers, we’re here to help.”

“No!” Ryon calls out as his legs touch the ground.

Zoe glares at him angrily. “Why not?”

“Food make others kill her for it. Unless she has a stash. Then others beat her for food," Ryon explains.

“Good point.” I turn to the woman. “Eat it here before we go.”

She nods and chews on the bread with a detached look in her eyes, then enters the house and closes the door behind her. I can hear a baby crying from within the house. If her baby is crying, it probably still has a chance… if its condition was bad it wouldn’t have the strength to cry… I attempt to comfort myself with logic, but it feels hollow.

I exchange looks with my companions. Sharla’s currently gray eyes are cold, she doesn’t care a single bit for these folks. Zoe’s brown eyes are full of pity and disgust. I see guilt in Berthold’s blue eyes, and Ryon’s green looks as if none of the sights are affecting him one way or another.

I sigh. "Let's go... There's not much we can do here. We need to find these fishermen."

*~*~*

Interlude 115.1

Nolkum Marvu.

"The Queen had entered the city!" Jalim reports. The tall dark haired boy fidgets around nervously.

Marvu's scales shift from surprised cyan to cowardly blue and angry red before he gets his scalespeak under control. The Queen? Is Queen Phoebe back? How? No. "Queen Inara?" Marvu lifts his eyes from his desk and scan the human man silently. Marvu focuses on the human face, that's how human convey emotions, that's how most races convey emotions. He knows humans can't read scalespeak, but he still makes sure his scales aren't conveying anything that's on his mind. Still, Marvu can't help but shift a few of his scales to angry red again. Olfgram Gemhand had assured him that Queen Inara will be occupied for a while. Marvu never trusted that shifty human, and that's a good thing. Marvu doesn't even trust his own kind, the silioes, and that's a good thing. Yes... Trust is unprofitable, but a show of trust is the way to profit. Yes...

"Yes, sir!" The young boy calls out loud enough for Marvu's weaker ears.

Marvu never trusted his own men, and that's a good thing, but the boy has no reason to lie and Marvu trusts his own logic. "How many men did she bring with her?"

"Around forty humans and twenty orcs, sir!"

So little... Marvu could wipe them out in a single skirmish. No. This is a trap, this has to be a trap, no one is that stupid or this arrogant. Marvu's scales shift to cowardly blue weaved with shameful pink. He gets control over his scales and school them back into confident purple. It doesn't matter, he reminds himself, humans can't read scalespeak. Yet, he should not form a habit of speaking his emotions just because there are no other silioes around, he'd be abused amongst his kind. This is why he left the sea and his kind behind.

"Tell captain Silde to test the Queen's forces. Tell him to be very careful. Did you catch the monster hiding in the city yet?"

"No, sir." The boy shouts again.

Marvu traces his thick tongue over his slick square teeth and a happy gold takes over his scales. "Ah ah my boy. Let the beauty and the beast fight their battle. We we will watch, with snacks! Yes! For profit!"

"What should I tell captain Silde, Sir?" The boy shouts his question. Marvu can't help his envy of human's superior hearing sense. His eyes swing around his temples to the missives on the table in front of him.

"Ah... tell him I give him free reigns over Apricot City. we have better and more profitable things to do, no?"

Jalim nods and leaves the room. Nods. Why do humans nod all the time? Can't they just give a proper affirmative green?

No, they can't, Marvu reminds himself. Humans might have a stronger hearing, but they're blind to scalespeak. What a miserable existence...

*~*~*

Power level: 3rd stage apprentice.
Mana pools status:
Crown-knot: Affinity 10: connected: 1 gem replenished per minute.
Neck-Bridge: Affinity 6: formed: max amount of gems drained per day: 79
Abdomen-storage: Affinity 5: formed: 16 gems. Conversion ratio: 6:1
Air: Affinity 4: formed: 26 gems
Fire: Affinity 2: formed: 13 gems
Light: Affinity 3: formed: 19/20 gems
Water: Affinity 6: formed: 39 gems
Earth: Affinity 1: formed: 6 gems
Wood: Affinity 2: formed: 13 gems
Gravity: Affinity 9: connected: 84/95 gems

Cantrip known:
Air: Shavi’s Breeze, Shavi’s Sword. Shavi’s Hair Dryer, Aria’s Enhanced Hearing. Aria’s Sonic Scream. Aria's Increased Voice.
Fire: Nuriss’ Flame. Effrat’s Firefly, Effrat’s Fire Breath. Sorladika's Lesser Heating. Nuriss’ Ignite. Oniga's Soap Creation.
Light: Noxi’s Light. Lako’s Blinding Light. Rika’s energy hand.
Water: Water Evocation, Water to Ice, Ice to Water, Water to Vapor, Vapor to Water, Mayan’s Icy Spike, Ayla’s Water Jet. Ayla’s instant freeze. Ayla's Flowing Shield. Ayla’s Freezing Vapors. Hot Water Conjuration. Boiling Waterjet.
Earth: Alice’s Oil Summoning, Reiko’s Acid Spray. Alf's Copper Bolt
Wood: Arigor’s Lesser Vines. Kolosu’s Vegetable Summoning.
Gravity: Lumina’s Kinetic Burst. Tukado’s Repulse. Tukado’s Lesser Shield II. Imari’s Minor Telekinesism. Imari’s Jump. Leo’s Pull. Leo’s Grounding. Alino’s Light Body. Alino’s Heavy Body. Alino's Orbiter.

Transmutation: Oniga's Laundry.

Spells known:
Light: Rika's Electric Channelb1
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb1x2. Tukado's Pushb1x3. Tukado’s defense IIIb1x4. Imari’s Lesser Flightb2.

Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison. Brigit’s Skin Restoration.

Focus capability: 18 patterns.

Social status: The Queen of Red Cedar City. Shaman of the Twin Moon Tribe. Inara, Daughter of Mysteries. Apprentice to the Maven of Mysteries. Sorceress.

Personal Wealth: 1465 Magic Gems. 1420 Golden Peas, 45 Silver Scales, 32 Copper Bits.

Personal Items:
Magical necklace. Contains 100 gems of general mana, can be drained like a mana pool. It’ll recharge by itself at the rate of five gems an hour.
1 potion of lightning body.
1 potion of mana, medium grade.
5 potions of Lesser Healing.
4 potions of Pain Tolerance.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keeps the pouches’ content fresh. Each pouch may contain 10g of petals or six potion flasks.
Glitter ingredients. (1 bag)
Fresh rose petals, 36g
Fresh lavender petals, 7g
10 empty soul bottles. Glass with a diamond stopper, put in scaled leather wrapping.
The Great White Egret grimoire. Dedicated by the Maven of mysteries to Inara. 30/100. Locked.

Present Companions:
Sharlafyn Nettledew
Zoe
Ryon
Berthold

Languages:
Toml’a <People’s tongue> Fluent
Sinteo <Speech> Fluent
Myrsha <Gravity> 8/10
Felul <Wind> 1/10
Nim <Water> 1/10
A'arkalu <Wolf Tongue> 3/10

Injuries and scars:

Curses:

Kingdom’s treasury: 3836 gold coins. 123 magical gems.

Kingdom’s citizen: 3,881 humans, 1,836 human children. Twin Moon Tribe: 1,158 orcs. 293 orc children. 529 sheep-slaves.

Kingdom's army: 1,1156 Orc Warriors. 324 Footmen. 49 Peacekeeper Knights.

Notables at Court:
Tasiya Keyholder.
Jolla SilverQuill.
Talbot Bookkeeper.
Marasi Chef extraordinaire (spymaster.)
Old Gardner Tiom.
Balgrum Orc Chieftain.

2023-11-13 09:35:14 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 115 in color

2023-11-13 09:34:28 +0000 UTC View Post