M.D.Syl

M.D.Syl posts

Chapter 85 colorless

Author notes:

This chapter is dedicated to Ash who filled my DM with edits and grammar fixes after my previous chapter… <3 And been giving me edit suggestions for a while now.

Thank you so much! 3rd time’s the charm. <3

Chapter 85 What is Justice?

Justice is not about correcting a mistake.
it’s about taking a mistake and building some good on it.
Justice is not about righting a wrong.
It’s about doing right while acknowledging the wrong.

Noxi, Guardian of Light.

{28} Nuriss (March) the 4th

“It’s a bad idea, ki… I mean, my Queen. We haven’t established order yet, there are gangs roaming in the slums, and too many widows out there. Holding a public trial right now is asking for a riot,” Salik offers his opinion.

Almost half the city had gathered up in the square, there are over two thousand men and women here. With so many people, there isn’t enough space in the small city square that would normally serve as a market. I even spot people crowding the balconies. Salik's soldiers have to block the paved streets in order to prevent more people from getting into the square.

“If someone wanted to cause a riot, all they have to do is start killing…” Salik keeps his rant, fiddling with his awful straw hat.

“Then make sure nobody dies," I say dryly.

“You aren’t making my life easy, Your Majesty," Salik complains. "We should call off these trials.”

“A little too late for that. Kolag already announced them to everyone. If I call it off now, I’ll look like a fool, or Kolag will look like a fool.”

“Better to look like a fool than be a fool, kid. Err… I mean, Your Majesty.”

Lepp Strongarm to our left gives Salik a horrified look and Zoe tuts in disapproval.

“Don’t worry. I’m not that stupid. I’ve placed Ryon on the rooftops. If someone starts something, his orders are to follow them. Not engage, just give me their location. If someone still has some plans for this city, this is the perfect trap to get them to reveal their hand.”

Salik takes off his awful straw hat and shakes his head. “No offense to the kid on the roofs, but he’s what? One teenager? You'd place hundred of lives in the hands of a child? How would he spot who causes a riot within over three thousand people?”

“He’s a half elf who grew up in Axero’s slums. Which are way more crowded than this place. And the fact that he’s a half elf means…”

“I know. He’s older than he looks,” Salik cuts me off mid-sentence, and Zoe tuts again. “Very well, forty years on the streets of Axero is enough experience for that, you've convinced me. But you don’t need to convince me. Let’s hope your trust in his skill isn’t misplaced.”

“Let’s hope no one is stupid enough to start a riot,” I say grimly and turn my attention to the trial. Salik nods and heads back to coordinate his new recruits.

I do my best to ignore the six guards around my chair or the fact that I need to scratch my head right under that annoying tiara I’m wearing. Instead, I focus on the trial.

“…Seen him murder her in cold blood, Sir. Seen him drive the dagger in her belly, Sir.”

“Kill him!”

“Murderer!”

“Off with his head!”

That’s the last witness for the serial killer from the cells, and now the crowd is thirsty for blood. The red haired man in question is tied up to a pillory, his head and hands facing the angry crowd. The crowd does more than words, they throw everything they can at him, from rotten vegetables to pebbles. Yeah… Salik is right… this is a snowy avalanche in the making… Damn Kolag for announcing this madness…

After much deliberation and questioning all the witnesses thoroughly, Kolag reaches a judgment. “The testimonies are clear. There’s no mistake that Aridelo the Red son of no one is responsible for taking thirty eight lives of Red Cedar City’s citizens. Mothers. Fathers. Husbands. Wives. Brothers. Sisters. Sons. Daughters. This man is a true monster. In light of Noxi’s judgment, and by the Queen’s law, I sentence him to death. Execution will be carried out now.”

“Ooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”

Kolag lifts his claymore and steps toward the pillory to the cheers of the crowd. One would think they didn’t have enough public executions with Luard in charge…

“Wait… snakes! Please! Executions get carried after a day, not right away!” the man protests, barely heard over the wild mad cheers.

“Not with me as your Lawmaker,” Kolag replies with an echo. The long blade goes up, then hacks down the fragile nape with a swift motion. The detached head falls into the bucket with a spray of rushing blood.

“OOOOOOOOOOOhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”

The crowd goes wild. Before Kolag reaches for the remains, someone from the crowd climbs on the platform and snatches the bloodied bucket, passing the head along the angry crowd.

Kolag waits for the cheers to die down, then turns to the guard, his order echoes through the square. “Bring Naura. Daughter of Gerom Mason, Daughter of Mara. Wife to Erol Sureaxe. To be judged before Noxi and the Queen for the death and murder of her own infant son Shilo.”

The guards lead up the woman in question to the pillory, while another pair remove the headless man from the spot.

“Anything you can say in your defense?” Kolag asks before they tie her up.

She shakes her head. “No. I killed my baby. I deserve death. Can you…” she gulps. “Can you please let me have poison? In private… That’s all I ask. I… I don’t want my mother to see me like this…”

Kolag turns from her and his loud voice echoes across the crowd. “People of Red Cedar City. I leave judgment to you. This woman killed her own son. An infant boy. She wants to die. She pleads guilty before Noxi and the Queen. Does she deserve death? Or another chance at life?”

“Death!!!”

“Off with her head!”

“Murderer!”

“She killed a child!”

Kolag lets the shouts wash over him, waiting for them to quiet down. “You’d condemn one of your own so easily? Was the tyranny and executions by King Luard wasn’t enough? Do you not care why she killed her child? What kind of mother kills her own child?”

“Killer!”

“Murderer!”

“Crazy!”

"Off with her head!"

“That’s right! Crazy!” Kolag’s echo is louder than the shouting. “This woman is insane. This woman had lost her sanity. Many things can make a person lose their sanity. Does she deserve death for a loss of sanity?”

“She’s dangerous!”

“She shouldn’t be allowed near children!”

“Death!”

“Murderer!”

“Monster!”

“Is the punishment for insanity should be death? Is that justice?” Kolag continues to question. A rotten tomato hits Kolag’s helmet, he ignores it and lets it fall with a red smudge to the ground. “Look at you. Today you stand down there, demanding blood. Tomorrow you might be up here with your head and hands clapped in wood and bronze. Is this justice?”

“Queen Inara!”

“A sorcerer’s word is justice! Not Noxi!”

“We want the Queen!”

“Death to Noxi!”

“Your Majesty!”

“Your Grace!”

“Go back to Sajarev, Noxite!”

“Snake Noxi!”

I’ve got to calm them down somehow… but I can’t cross his judgment out publicly. I stand up and the crowd turns silent. “Kolag. Is this woman guilty?”

“I do not know. I haven’t heard the witnesses yet.” Another rotten tomato hits Kolag’s armor.

Really? You’re going to drag this? Stupid bucket head!

“She admitted to her own guilt,” I argue.

“Indeed. She is guilty, Your Majesty.”

“What is her sentence?”

He nods slowly to himself, deep in thoughts. “I cannot condemn her to death. Not after the remorse she had shown. She is not a bad person. She is a woman who has lost her sanity for a single day, and now won’t ever forgive herself.”

I raise an eyebrow. “And if she loses her sanity again? Kill another child?”

Kolag hits his breastplate with a metallic fist. “On my honor and by Noxi’s light. It won’t ever happen again. This single time had scarred her for a life. She will not ever repeat this monstrous deed.”

“What is her sentence then?”

“To live with her scars in a city that hates her. To live with these scars with a family that won’t look her in the eye. By Noxi, this is justice!”

“Boooooooooooooooo!!!”

“Don’t listen to Noxi!”

“Off with her head!”

“Your Majesty! Execute her!”

“Death to Noxi!”

“Felul.” <Wind.> I cast an amplified ‘Breeze’ and create a strong wind around me that lifts my skirts and hair. The blatant display of magic silences the angry crowd.

I turn to face the faceless crowd. I look at them, moving my eyes slowly on theirs. “By the decree of your god, I’m your Queen. My word is law.”

“Your Majesty!”

“That’s right!”

“Thirteen watches!”

“Your Majesty!”

“Your Grace!”

“Off with her head!”

“This is my law: I do not care for Noxi. But. Kolag is my new Lawmaker. His word is my law. I do not care who he worships. Kolag cares deeply for justice, more than I ever will. If you challenge his law, you challenge me.”

The crowd stares with utter silence. I can feel their disapproval burning on my face. I’m the snaking Queen, and if this bunch of madmen can accept Luard’s executing some poor sod every week, they can accept me not doing so.

Won’t help me if they start sending assassins…

That’s what Ryon is for…

And what if he misses a threat? I can't count on him for everything...

I turn to the guards. “Let the woman go and bring the last person.”

The guard nods and unshackles the surprised raven haired woman. She backs off from the crowd and kneels in front of Kolag. “Kill me!”

“No. Your punishment is to live with your sin,” Kolag echoes.

“KILL ME!!!” The shrill scream makes me wince.

“No.” Kolag stands there, not sparing her a look.

“I’ll kill another baby!”

“You won’t,” the echoing reply is unwavering.

“I will! I promise you, I will! Kill me!” She tugs the blade of his claymore. Fingers bleeding, she tries to bring it to her throat.

Kolag gently pulls the blade away from her reach. “Take her away,” he orders the guards. “Bring Garion Gemhand to be judged before Noxi and the Queen.” Will you stop mentioning snaking Noxi already?

The crowd is deathly silent, glaring at the woman. She gets dragged away by the guards, tears streaking down her cheeks.

The bald former Lawmaker finds himself led toward the pillory. His expensive suit looks rather shoddy, and his well groomed mustache sags without its daily oiling.

Kolag raises his hand before the guards tie the man to the wooden frame.

“Garion Gemhand. You are to be judged in front of Noxi and the Queen for abusing your position of Lawmaker to execute the innocent. You are to be judged in front of Noxi and the Queen for violating innocent women, and for ordering the local guards into unforgivable acts of rape. Anything to say in your defense?”

“These are all actions of King Luard and Princess Drussilla. If I had not carried out their orders, I’d be a dead man. Judge them, not me! Am I to be judged for their actions? Just because I was their servant?! If Tasiya Keyholder had been ordered to carry those rapes, she would’ve. If she had been ordered to round up women for King Luard, she would’ve. We cannot say no to a sorcerer. Execute me if it makes you feel better, but don’t lie to yourself and call it justice, you fanatic piece of rot!” Garion spits in Kolag's direction.

Kolag lowers his head in contemplation as the guards fix Garion’s head and hands on the pillory and buckle the wooden framework.

“Very well. People of Red Cedar City. I will hear any testimony you may bring about Garion Gemhand. But I demand testimonies about Garion’s own actions. Not his orders. Not his words. Actions. Have any of you seen Garion’s hands doing the killing? Have any of you seen Garion’s committing a sin with his own body? Now is the time to step up. As before. A witness caught in a blatant lie will be executed on the spot.” Kolag lifts his bloodied claymore and leans the long blade on his shoulder.

The crowd glares silently, no one steps up for a long awkward moment.

“Anyone?” Kolag’s voice echoes throughout the square. A low buzz of chatter grows within the crowd, but no one steps up.

Kolag walks back and forth on the elevated platform, his loud metallic steps creak along the discontent chatter. After a long painful wait, Kolag turns to Garion. “Your sentence is to help the widows and orphans who lost their husbands during the war of your former king. You are to make sure each and every one of them have everything they need during the upcoming year. A pair of guards will escort you to make sure you abide by your sentence. That’ll be all.”

At Kolag's nod, the guards release Garion from the Pillory’s frame.

Garion turns to me and bows deeply. “Thank you for your true justice, my Queen.” He walks down to the crowd. The crowd parts, oddly making space for him.

I stand up and address the crowd, raising the pitch of my voice to be heard. “In two weeks I’ll hold a hearing in the palace. I’ll meet with three elected representatives. One from the rich merchants of this city. One from the slums and the gangs. And the last from the craftsmen and workers. I do not care how you elect your representatives, but know that they are your way to improve your daily lives. They’ll bring your urgent needs to my attention, and I’ll take care of them.”

The crowd listens to my speech silently, but I know that if someone below spoke up, they’d barely hear me. I really need to learn a spell that increases my voice…

“In addition. The former tax rate of 50% on all trades, will be lowered to 10% instead. I’m not here to squeeze all of your hard earned gold. That’ll be all.” I turn to leave, with six of Salik’s guards at my heel.

“All hail the Queen!”

“Hail! Hail!”

The crowd chants behind me. I didn’t do anything… 50% tax is unreasonable… I need to grow trade and make this place livable to attract people… the last thing I need is 50% tax…

“Hail! Hail! Hail! Hail! Hail the Queen!”

“Your Majesty we love you!”

Yes! Cheer for me! Lick my boots my little pawns. Serve me!

What? No! What the snakes?!

Yes! Snake! Give me some time and I’ll make you eat Kolag’s snake too, my little sheep… Call my name!

“Queen Inara!”

“Your Grace Inara!”

“All hail the Queen!”

Yes! Good pawns!

I shake my head to shake my thoughts away and keep walking. They’re people! Not my pawn! What in the five hells? I shouldn’t think things like that! And why are they cheering for me? Some weird and sick religion? I’ve done nothing to earn their loyalty…

They’re no more than stupid sheep who follow their shepherd blindly, and I am their shepherd now… They’re mine! Mine!

Stop it! Just stop! I need to get out of here… I’m going to puke…

I make my way toward the palace, doing my best not to stumble and empty the content of my stomach. Zoe, Salik, and Kolag follow solemnly behind me. We enter the palace’s gates. I glance at the greenery with the lavender and rose bushes to the sides, but there’s no sign of my peculiar old gardener.

The palace's gates close behind us, but I can still hear the crowd cheering from behind it.

“Have you lost your rotten mind, kid?” Salik turns to Kolag. “Did you have to announce these snowing trials today of all days? We haven’t established which of the soldiers is even on our side and who is a corrupt sellout who’d rape women under orders. We could’ve had riots back there! They’d drag you off the stage and tear your rotten helmet off! What do you think would happen then, huh?”

“Justice prevailed. Even a crowd like that had to accept true justice when it was presented to them,” Kolag says it like a mantra.

“No, kid. What they accepted was rotten money, that’s what they accepted. Inara lowered their snowing taxes. It’s the only reason we don't have a demon running loose in this city. You have no idea what it’s like to manage a city that’s been recently conquered, do you?” Salik palms his forehead and his straw hat topples off his head. It stops on his back, held by a string around his neck.

Kolag turns to face the older man. “Yes. I do. I’ve been a part of a conquering army. The justice of Noxi is accepted all over the world. No one…”

Salik snorts and shakes his head, bushy eyebrows raised. “I don’t know who sold you that venom, kid, but it’s a pile of snow. Plenty of places around the world despise Noxi. The same way the fanatics of Noxi despise orcs, goblins, and arcane wielders.”

Kolag tilts his head. “Hrmm… I’ll take that into consideration. I assume they hate Noxi because they don’t know about his justice…”

Salik heaves a heavy sigh, shakes his head to himself, and turns to leave. “I’ve got soldiers to manage. Inara, I’ll follow your request, but I estimate it’ll take me at least a week.”

I nod. “Take as long as you need. Just make sure no one in the army is on anyone else’s payroll. You can offer a magical gem to those who bring proof of bribery, and get Kolag to execute them publicly. The last thing we need are soldiers who open gates and doors for assassins and thieves.”

“I will not execute a man for taking a bribe,” Kolag states with an echo.

“Fine. I consider it an act of treason when coming from my army. You are the Lawmaker for the people Kolag, Salik is responsible for the law within the army. It’s up to Salik how to deal with treason, and he will be the one making the executions.”

Kolag blocks my way. “You won’t be better than Luard if you start executing people left and right.”

I look up at him, not taking a step back. Rot my snaking height. Why can’t I be taller?! “There’s a difference between executing a woman who refused to sleep with you and executing a solider for accepting a bribe. The former is done over an injured ego, the latter is done to uproot corruption and scare the other soldiers from doing the same. Salik won’t go above three executions unless someone acts stupid. I reckon he won’t need to execute more than one or two people.”

Kolag grunts. “It’s not about…”

“Inara, if I may?” Salik interjects. “Let me take care of this. I can uproot those people without executions. I have my methods. I’ll take the extra funds you offer. I promise you, within a week or two, there’ll be no more corrupted guards.”

I raise an eyebrow. “And how do you plan to do that?”

He smirks and fixes his awful straw hat, lowering the brim to cover his eyes from the sun. “Simple. Going to spread the word that a guard who brings me a person who tried to bribe him will receive double the amount offered to them from me. Greedy people who take a risk for money would also take a risk to betray a shifty employer. We have the funds, and we can seize the funds of the said shifty employer. No need for executions.”

"And if a corrupt guard just grabs someone off the streets and claim that they attempted to bribe them?"

"Then the man will lose his salary. I wasn't born yesterday, kid." Salik waves his hand and turns to leave the palace. “Speaking of executions,” he says as the guards open the gates to the palace. “Ryon didn't stick to the rooftops like you've ordered him to, he's got something for you. He’s inside.”

“Thanks.” I head toward the palace. I wonder what Ryon did now…

“Master?” Zoe pipes hesitantly, smoothing her long gray and white uniform.

“Yes?”

“Why do you let them talk to you like that? You’re a sorceress. You’re an emissary of Jalier, a speaker for a god! They need to treat you with respect.”

I’m really starting to hate this cult of an island… “For me, respect means speaking your mind freely. If you hide behind pointless tact, you disrespect me. Speak your mind freely and don’t hold back, are we clear?”

“Yes, Master.” She nods rapidly.

“Now let’s see what Ryon found for me.”

I enter the palace and find a corpse of a young beautiful woman at my feet. A group of young maids hovers a few steps away from the scenes, peeking and whispering to one another behind Tasiya’s wide back.

“Caught da’ sneaky thief. I got her. A shame. Good jugs.” Ryon crouches near the corpse, chewing on a piece of grilled chicken. A small pile of bones and a plate of chicken wings near the corpse gives it a very surreal feeling.

I eye the chestnut haired woman in the black leathers, the daggers in her belt, and the bloodied mask that’s hanging loosely around her neck. This is an assassin, not a thief. “What was she after?”

Ryon stands up and cleans a chicken bone from its meat. He swallows and lets the bone fall into the blood that’s pooling around the dead woman’s neck region. “She try free that baldie rich peep. The one that needed to die today.”

She tried to free Garion… interesting. “Any idea who sent her?”

“Nah.”

Garion has a backing... I'll need to look into it. “Think you can find out?”

Ryon shrugs. “I can try, boss lady. No promises.”

“That’s all I ask. Good luck, and keep watching for more sneaky thieves like that.”

“Ye, sure. Can I have da silvers for the shavi place?”

“Shavi place?” I raise an eyebrow.

“Yeah, the shavi place with all da ladies with da big jugs. They wanna snake for silvers.”

Right… Koshavi’s temple. “Sure.” I hand him a few golden coins.

“Gold is bad. I don’ have da stash yet. Gimme silver.”

I roll my eyes and hand him a few silver coins, taking my gold back. “Have fun, but don’t forget to watch over my palace and my rooms.”

“Yeah yeah.” He leaves, waving a hand.

I crouch near the corpse and start going through her belt and items. With luck, she carried orders on her...

But no such luck. All I find are bronze daggers, a pair of ropes, some charcoal, and a hairbrush. “Clean this up,” I order the Tasiya.

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Her maids spring into action, dragging the corpse away and scrubbing the blood from the floor.

“You allow him to kill like that?” Kolag asks in a dire tone.

“Yeah. I allow you to kill like that too.”

“This is different. The boy doesn’t have any common sense. He could kill an innocent.”

“That ‘boy’ is at least forty years old. Probably more. He could kill an innocent if I ordered him to, but he won’t kill an innocent without a good reason.” I hope so… He did kill a mother without blinking back in Axero… But it was under a ‘job’, he has no reason to kill anyone here… Why did the hag send him with me?

Does it matter? So far he killed three assassins around my palace… Someone is clearly scheming. “Tasiya. As my new spymaster, I order you to find who’s responsible for the three assassins lurking in my palace. Get to it.” She knows to coordinate with Marasi…

“Yes, Your Majesty.” She curtsies lightly and heads toward the kitchen, leaving her maids to take care of the corpse.

“You’re right,” Kolag echoes. “We should focus on whoever sent this woman first. I’ll then look after that b… guy and how he decides to kill.” He turns to leave.

“Exactly." I stop him with a hand on his metal covered arm. "Kolag. How do you know you’ve made the right choice with your judgment back then?”

“It felt right,” the response is unwavering.

I raise an eyebrow. “Is justice about what feels right? To the crowd, it felt right to kill all three of the accused.”

He pauses, lowering his head in contemplation. “Hrmmm… It felt like Noxi himself was guiding my actions.”

I roll my eyes. “That’s just another way to say: ‘it felt right.’ Kolag, it’s not an answer.”

“You do not understand because you do not worship a god, my love. Believe me, the gods are there for their believers, they guide our actions. Some rare believers like Jerro, even hear the voice of their god.”

It still doesn’t answer a thing. Even if a god tells him it’s the right thing to do, it doesn’t make it right, who’s to say that the god is correct? I twirl my hair around my finger. “Ok. Never mind. I trust your judgment. I have way too many things to take care of, let’s continue this conversation another time.”

“Agreed. I still need to establish my Peacekeepers knights.”

*~*~*

Interlude 85.1

Olfgram Gemhand.

Nuriss (March) the 11th

She let Garion go.

The new brat let Garion go.

It’s been a week, she made no contact with Olfgram or his people.

She made that knight her Lawmaker, and he’s one hell of a blockhead. Her General somehow has more pull over his men than Olfgram’s people do. And yet, she let Garion go, and lowered the taxes, giving away so much more profit to Olfgram.

What is she playing at? Is she truly unaware of Olgram’s presence? Or just pretends to be stupid?

Dana enters the cellar, closing the heavy iron door behind her. After making sure the iron door is secure, the woman joins the rest of them around the table. She’s wearing a revealing blue dress tonight, never a good sign when Dana wears a revealing dress.

She lowers her head toward Olfgram, showing a major part of her bountiful chest. “Thousand apologies, Sir!”

“Apology for what?” Olfgram frowns, his white brows creasing.

“You told us to lay low. I should’ve listened. I… I sent one of my girls to release your brother, Sir. It was before the trials, I didn’t… I didn’t know the Queen would release him, Sir. They cut her throat.”

Olfgram swallows a curse. She should've reported this a week ago. He can't get angry. He cannot lose his calm in front of his subordinates. Not now when they're all threading on thin ice. “Did your girls spot who did the killing?”

“Yes, sir. But their report is… odd. My girls reported that some orc kid did the killing. We can’t spot him anywhere, my girls have been looking all week.”

An orc child? That is odd indeed. Orc children aren’t very smart, and orcs in general are not very good at subterfuge, it goes against their very nature.

“I do not like what I hear, Dana. But given the circumstances and the fact you’ve tried to free my little brother, I’m willing to look past your transgressions.”

“Sir! Thank you, Sir.”

Regihold snorts, brown eyes leering toward Dana’s cleavage. “And your fat jugs save you again, ma flower.”

Dana glares daggers at the brute. “And you never mess up, because you and your thugs have the brain of a pea. Lord Olfgram doesn’t trust you with any real work.”

Olfgram smiles under his mustache, neither of them is entirely wrong. Dana is pleasantly fun to be in bed with, if only his wife was this good. And Regihold is only good for brute force.

“Only because you…”

Olfgram raises a hand and cuts the bickering off. “That’s enough. Next week we’ll send a representative to meet this so called ‘Queen Inara’. This could be her invitation to us. Dana, you’ll represent the slums. You know our needs, and this is your way of making up for the melted snow you’ve left at my doorstep.”

“Yes sir!”

Regihold snickers. “Will you go as the representative of the rich yourself, Sir? I love this little Queen. Do we have someone to represent the middle class too?”

Olfgram shakes his head. “No. I’ll be sending my dumb son again, just like we did with Luard. We still don’t know what the Queen’s intentions are, this will be a good test of her intelligence and ambitions. As for the middle class…” Olfgram pauses, contemplating. “Let them pick their own representative. They’re irrelevant.”

“Yes sir!” Regihold bows his head.

*~*~*

Power level: 3rd stage apprentice.
Mana pools status:
Crown-knot: Affinity 10: formed: 1 gem replenished per five minutes.
Neck-Bridge: Affinity 6: formed: max amount of gems drained per day: 66
Abdomen-storage: Affinity 5: formed: 6 gems. Conversion ratio: 6:1
Air: Affinity 4: formed: 18 gems
Fire: Affinity 2: formed: 9 gems
Light: Affinity 3: formed: 14 gems
Water: Affinity 6: formed: 27 gems
Earth: Affinity 1: formed: 4 gems
Wood: Affinity 2: formed: 9 gems
Gravity: Affinity 9: formed: 40/41 gems

Cantrip known:
Air: Shavi’s Breeze, Shavi’s Sword. Shavi’s Hair Dryer, Aria’s Enhanced Hearing. Aria’s Sonic Scream.
Fire: Nuriss’ Flame. Effrat’s Firefly, Effrat’s Fire Breath. Sorladika's Lesser Heating. Nuriss’ Ignite.
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.
Earth: Alice’s Oil Summoning, Reiko’s Acid Spray.
Wood: Arigor’s Lesser Vines. Kolosu’s Vegetable Summoning.
Gravity: Lumina’s Kinetic Burst. Tukado’s Repulse. Tukado’s lesser shield. Imari’s Minor Telekinesis. Imari’s Jump. Leo’s Pull. Leo’s Grounding. Alino’s Light Body. Alino’s Heavy Body.

Spells known:
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb.
Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison.

Focus capability: 13 patterns

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

Wealth: 1496 Magic Gems. 1421 Golden Peas, 5 Silver Scales, 12 Copper Bits.

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. Self made.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keeps the pouches’ content fresh. Each pouch may contain 10g of petals or six potion flasks.
Fresh rose petals, 45g
Fresh lavender petals, 20g
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. 11/100

Companions:
Kolag of house Befar
Salik
Zoe
Ryon

Languages:
Toml’a <People’s tongue> Fluent
Sinteo <Speech> Fluent
Myrsha <Gravity> 7/10
Felul <Wind> 1/10

Injuries and scars:

Kingdom’s treasury: 305 gems. 41,682 gold coins.

Kingdom’s citizen: 6,021 humans, 2,251 human children.

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

2023-06-03 17:38:58 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 85 in color

2023-06-03 17:38:33 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 84 colorless

Author notes:

This chapter is dedicated to Pure_Grimoire for multiple helpful edits that improved my work.

Thank you very much for your support and help.

Chapter 84 Alchemy.

Persistence despite a harsh reality,
is the key to progress.
Only when one is consistent with their efforts,
do they see progress with their actions.
Only when you put one leg before the other,
will you reach your destination.

Amaret, the Great Sinner.

The garden is a stunning array of rose and lavender bushes. These are also the spell materials for the gravity and light elements.

While the roses and lavenders have already started to bloom, I notice a third patch that is still green. I know that it’ll take a while for the flowers in that patch to bloom. I can only assume that it contain flowers for the water element, since Luard was water focused.

A vast open area of green grass stretches between the flower shrubs on the sides. A single old gardener limps near the lavender, taking care of the flowers with his eyes half closed.

“Hello?”

The old beardless man turns and squints at me. “Mmm? Oh yes, hello young lady. Here to look at the flowers?”

“Yeah. Also harvest some lavenders and roses for now…” Aside from the use for a healing potion, lavenders can also be used as spell materials for energy spells… good to have on me in any case…

He wipes his bald head with a handkerchief “Ah! A sorceress. Welcome to my gardens, young lady.”

I’m glad he’s not scared of me… I guess he doesn’t have much to lose in his age… “Thank you. Can you get me a few batches of lavenders and roses? Also. What’s growing in the flower bed over there? Bellflower? Will they bloom in the summer?” Bellflower is the primarily used water element flower after all…

He looks toward the patch of soil near the wall. “Hm that? No, that will be sowbread flowers. They bloom during autumn and winter. I’m afraid you’ll have to wait for them, young lady.”

“What’s a sowbread? Never heard of it…”

He turns to the lavender bush and use pruners to extract petals carefully. “Hmmm? It is not a known flower, quite shy. Loves the shade. It’s why it’s planted near the north wall. It can be used for water sorceries like all the other shy flowers.”

“Shy flowers?”

“Hmmhmm. Flowers who face down are shy and humble like the bellflower, bleeding hearts, Brigit’s trumpets. Sowbread is unique, the petals face upward, but the flower bows its head down in humility. It is in your water chants, is it not? Here is a humble flect flower… hmmmhmmm…”

I instantly prod him with my crown pool, to my surprise, he doesn’t have much magic in him. “Ok… I’ve had enough surprises for one day. Who are you and why do you know magical chants?”

He collects a handful of lavender petals and hand them to me. “Oh me? I’m Tiom, I’m just an old Loremaster, here to retire and take care of the flowers.”

Old priest to the god of knowledge… makes sense. “I’ll also need lavenders with their stems, for healing potions," I say as I fix the lavender petals in my belt.

He nods and turns to the lavenders. “Of course.”

So… the element of flowers have a pattern to it? I never realized, the books don’t mention it anywhere, just that… wait… actually the guidance book did mention that earth elemental accept thorny plants… and wood elementals accept edible plants… but nothing about the other elements, for the other elements it just names a flower as the "primarily used flower" for an element… I wonder how it works... “So what are the characteristics of gravity flowers?”

He carefully cut ten lavender stems for me. “Royalty. The characteristic is royalty. Rose, dahila, lotus, hibiscus. Hmmm… is this enough?”

I accept the flowers. I doubt I'll make more than ten potions. “It’s plenty. Thank you. Why are they royal?”

He limps toward the rose bushes and gestures at them, still in early bloom. “Because they attract your eyes and control your thoughts for a few moments. Hmmm… Of course, the same can be said about every flower, but these are more attractive. Gravity attracts, hmmm?”

I follow his slow pace of walking. “What about flowers of the light element?”

“Tall flowers. Lavenders, witchglove, knightspur… though, water elementals tend to accept witchglove and knightspur as well, you do need to offer a little bit more of them, but they do. You see? The knightspur grows tall and proud for light elementals, but its bloom faces down, humble, for water elementals. It has been quite a popular spell material back in the day.”

“Not anymore?”

“No. Both plants had been monopolized and the price had gone up sadly. Even a pack of seeds costs a fortune. We’re left with good old lavenders.” He leans forward and starts pruning the thorny rose bush for petals.

“Wait… earth elementals accepts thorny flowers, right?”

“Thorny plants in general. They’ll accept anything with thorns. Shrubs too. Earth elemental materials are amongst the easiest to get. They do prefer nettle, you have to offer much less nettle compared to other plants.”

“Do they accept rose petals too?”

“No. They’ll accept the stems with the thorns, but not the petals. And you’ll need to collect a lot of those stems.” He nods with his head toward the shrub as he hands me a handful of rose petals.

“I… I see.” So there wasn’t a chance to learn turn the wall into sand when we fought the vampiric spiders using a single old rose… but that’s good to know nonetheless… Looks like the spell materials are much more fluid in nature than I thought.

I place the petals of both the lavenders and the roses in my belt bag. The scent is something I’m quite used after carrying petals in my belt, yet, this smell is more vivid and fresh. This is nice… I wish I had a nice old wizard like him as my master instead of the hag… he’s way more fitting to be the wise old wizard from the bards’ tales… “Do you know other things about magic? Or just flowers?”

He sighs and limps back toward the lavenders. “If you have any questions about knowledge, you may address Jolla Silverquill. I’m no longer a Loremaster, I'm retired. I’m just here to tend the flowers.”

“I… see. Thank you. That was… both enlightening and pleasant.”

He turns and his wrinkled face crease with a warm smile. “Thank you. For not telling me to shut up and go back to my flowers.” He moves his fist across his chest in a weird gesture I don't recognize.

I snicker. “Don’t worry. I’m not Luard. I actually like gardening, not that I had any time for it for the past seven years. I might come down to help you if I have the time to spare. Sure you can take care of this garden all by yourself? I could hire a few extra hands.”

He cocks his head as if he didn’t hear me well. “Hmmm? No need. No need. I enjoy my work. I’d grow quite bored if I had someone else doing all of my work for me, got to keep busy or my brain wonders to places it shouldn't. I’d welcome your help though, when you have the time, of course. You are quite distracting, young lady.”

Is he flirting with me? He's sweet... “Of course, I'll come by to distract you from time to time. Can you plant wind element flowers in here? I do have some affinity for wind.”

“I’ll put in a request with Tasiya for some dandelion seeds. Hmmm… you won’t see any dandelions until next spring, possibly summer. They need a good time of cold earth to develop.”

“That’s alright. Thank you, Tiom.”

“You are most welcome, young lady. You’re the politest sorceress this castle had seen in the last twenty years.”

“My pleasure.” I head back to the palace, and make my way to the alchemy lab.

The alchemy lab is quite small. It features a desk with a copper cauldron. A box of empty bronze potion bottles, and a few metallic containers meant for measurements. A pack of thin candle clocks that are meant to measure time lay orderly in the shelves to my right. And at the corner to my left, near the gray stone wall there’s a bucket of clean water to use.

While I could evoke water magically. I’d have to wait at least a day or possibly more for the water to become natural water. This is true for every element evoked magically. Magically created element is considered unnatural for at least a day after it was evoked. After a day or more, depending on the amount conjured, the laws of creation recognized the element as a part of the natural order.

Like spell materials. Alchemical recipes would not work if the ingredients were magically created. Hence, I need water drawn from the river for my alchemy.

This rule is written in the first page of the alchemy book I’ve received from the Maven.

I flip to the third page with the ‘Lesser Healing Potion’.

A drop of blood from the alchemist.
Lavender or energy element flower substitute.
A single lizard scale of any kind.
A pair of fish scales
A pair of fish eyes of any kind.

Alright… let’s get started! I tie up my hair to make sure it won’t get into the cauldron.

“Nim.” <Water.> I do not conjure water. I take control over the water in the barrel and float them into the coppery cauldron.

“Anfero.” <Ignite.> I light up the prepared wood beneath the counter. I play with the contraption below the pot. It's an odd way to control the temperature by partially sealing the shaft between the fire and the cauldron. I open the shaft fully, and wait for the water to boil up.

I go over the recipe again and again while waiting. Then go over the Glitter recipe, comparing the two. Compared to glitter, a ‘Lesser Healing Potion’ seem easy. But even this supposedly weak healing potion is stupidly complex. Casting ‘Weightless Body’ spell is easier than this. At least it doesn’t seem like I have to deal with a rotten elemental for this.

The water bubble up and boil. It’s time.

I put the lizard scale in the water, weave four wood patterns, and chant. “Si to fullnokta xnaul si xa.” <This one wish to bless the water.>

Eight gems worth of wood mana drains from the mana pool in my abdomen. Leaving the mana pool almost empty. Green smoke comes out of the cauldron. When the smoke clears, the boiling water inside it turns blue.

I smile as I watch the reaction that was described in my book. I then add the lavender into the boiling blue water, I carefully form ten energy mana patterns and read directly from my alchemy book. “Reviss. Rit ler kas tak, kas rit.” <Energy. This water needs you, feed it.>

About twenty gems worth of mana flows from the energy mana pool in my heart into the boiling water. The blue water turns calm in an instant. Peeking into the cauldron, I note that the blue water vibrate lightly, and tiny sparks randomly flash inside it.

I fix a five minutes candle and nod to myself. Exactly like the book describes… “Anfero.” <Ignite.> I light up the candle and let the energized blue water boil for five minutes.

Next is a drop of my blood. I use my dagger to puncture the tip of my pinky and let the blood drop. I concentrate on the next spell. Similar to the ‘Lesser Cure Poison’ spell, this is a weave of light and wood mana. Unlike that harsh spell, this one needs only nine patterns, and only twenty gems worth of mana.

I draw mana from my necklace to form the spell patterns. It concentrates between both pools below my ribcage and flow into the water as I chant.

“Ton at revis, atno tonoar tonoto, kas rit ler tonoar atonome.” <Life and energy, here is some life’s blood, feed this water life’s healing.>

A blinding flash of light followed be a sharp deafening sounds come out from the cauldron. I spasm uncontrollably when an weak electric current travels through my body, nothing like the spell that hit me, but still I pleasant. I gasp and lean on the table when it passes. I take a deep breath and look into the cauldron, it’s now regular water with a wet lavender inside.

Again…

I repeat the steps. My next attempt I mess up even earlier and my Lavender doesn’t even energize the water to begin with. The energy patterns I’ve made were bad.

Again!

My third attempt meets with another blinding electric pulse just when my blood and bad life magic patterns meet the water.

I'm never going to figure this out, am I?

Again!

Only on my forth attempt do the energized water turn scarlet red.

Finally!

I lean over the cauldron, admiring the scarlet water inside. Only one last step… “Anfero.” <Ignite.> I light a twenty minutes candle on my right. I tuck a stray hair behind my ear and something drops into the scarlet brew of the potion below, a drop of my sweat.

*Puffffff* a tall rod of red smoke comes out of the copper cauldron.

Oh come on! Snakes!

Again!

As if to mock my effort, I hear a loud fart to my right. Ryon is leaning on the doorway, biting into an apple. "Watchya doin?"

"A potion."

He leans forward, green eyes gleaming. "A trick? What it do?"

"Heal you when you're wounded."

His shoulders deflate. "Ah that trick. Ya need to pay da gold coins for that trick. Ya can't make it."

"Watch me!"

"Fine, ah watch. Two sneaky thieves try an’ get into your room."

“What?!”

He shrugs. “Ah killed ‘em.”

“I see… Good job. Kill enough of them and they’ll avoid the palace. Don’t kill innocents though.”

He grins, green eyes gleaming like a cat in his darkened ebony face. “Don’ worry. Ah don kill no regular peeps unless ya order me to, boss lady. Only sneaky thieves and killers.”

“Good. You did a good job.” I smile and turn back to my potion. Go away and let me focus, please!

This is serious… why would thieves risk sneaking into the palace, and to my own room no less… Is someone testing me?

I’ll think about it later… I doubt they’ll get past Ryon… that half elf grew in Axero. Axero population is a thousand times the population of this place… Ryon survived there for at least forty years, probably longer… I can trust him to catch them…

He can’t be everywhere at once.

I’ll notify Marasi too…

“Do ah get da good food now?” Ryon interrupts me from my thoughts.

“Yeah. Go to the kitchen and ask Marasi to cook something good for you. Tell him about the thieves while you’re at it.”

“Marasi is da’ tiny freak, yea?”

I nod, focused on my potion.

Fifth attempt gives me another blinding flash. Ryon laughs and leaves, losing his patience.

I’m just bad at this… there’s no way I can make a simple healing potion… how am I going to make glitter?!

Should I try something simpler? A sleeping potion is probably a better idea for a first try…

No. I have to figure out glitter as soon as possible! That means I have to master a healing potion as soon as possible. I’m figuring it out today, or at least this week.

Again!

Sixth attempt I’m glaring the scarlet water again. I light up the twenty minutes candle and glare at the dead fish on the counter near the cauldron. “If you rot up my potion… I’m going to make you regret you ever heard the term fisherman!”

“Blaming the fish now?" Kolag’s echoing voice makes me jump.

"What?"

He snickers and nods. “How is that potion coming along?”

“How long were you standing there?” I tie up my hair again, trying to distract myself from the heat on my face.

“A while…”

Great… just great… “Failing and failing again… I have to learn this or Salik will die in six months. Also, healing potions should be useful for everyone. If I could just brew the rotten thing.”

“Why would Salik die?”

Oh snakes… he doesn’t know. Awkward... I probably shouldn't talk about it. “Salik… uhh… he have some sort of health condition that needs a specific magical potion. The hag gave him enough supply for six months. After that, I’m the one who needs to brew that potion, and I don’t know anything about alchemy.”

“You have six months to figure it out, I’m sure you’ll do fine. Inara? I have a problem. People here hate Noxi. Once they heard I worship Noxi, I’ve lost ten of my PeaceKeepers recruits.”

I shrug. “Then don’t tell them that you worship Noxi.”

“I can’t lie to them. Noxi is the god of truth. You expect me to lie about who I worship? How would I be able to face and offer prayer to the god of truth when I’m not honest about who I worship?”

I roll my eyes. “I don’t think I’m the correct person to talk to about that, I’m an atheist, remember? Maybe you should try Salik? Or Jolla, I think she worships Tukado.”

He shakes his head. “I don’t think they can understand me like you do. Also, you know we have an elfling in the kitchen?”

“Yeah, I met the little guy. What about him?”

“You should never trust an elfling.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Why not?”

Kolag fiddles with his pauldron. “Elflings… wreak havoc. They are too chaotic, and they do not know the meaning of responsibility. I have seen a town burn due to the chaos a single elfling caused, they are not to be trusted.”

“Oh I see. It’s ok, I know he have some problematic secrets. He actually cleared the winds about them. I don’t think it’d be a good idea to turn on him after he trusted me. I’ll trust him until he proves me otherwise.”

He grunts. “I hope you know what you’re doing…”

“I hope so too. Now, I need to concentrate.” I turn back to my potion, the scarlet water is bubbling lazily in my cauldron. I pick out the fish eyes and scales, repeating the patterns and chant from the book in my head. I eye the candle, it’ll burn out in a couple of minutes.

I do my best to ignore Kolag’s eyes on my right and place the materials in the cauldron when the candle winks out. I watch the fish scales and eyes float in the scarlet water, and carefully weave the twelve patterns that combine water and light mana.

“fainim, nimalo, num asano riquill. Oue nimfai rialaluwe, rilasula. Nimakee si rilaluwe, akeloki si ril. Asano si aluwe nufilata.”

<Life’s water, beauty, I (my) wish remember. Here’s a fish scale, eyes. Caress the wound, smooth the edge. May the skin flourish.>

Red smoke and vapor blow out of my cauldron like a strong wind. They’re followed by a foul odor of rotten fish. I cough and cover my nose. “Felul.” <Wind.> I use my magical breeze to clear up the tiny lab of the horrible smell.

Snaking great! What did I mess up now?

“Is it supposed to do that?” Kolag asks.

Snakes... does he have to be here when I mess up my potions and smell like a rotten fish? “No. It’s not supposed to do that,” I reply drily, eyes in my book. “Oh it's the rotten chant… it’s snaking Rialuwe, not Rialaluwe… Wait… one is rilaluwe, and the other is rialuwe… snakes… I’m starting to hate Nim too… Latsa.” I float my ‘Nim to Toml’a’ dictionary. “Huh… rilaluwe is broken skin, a wound. Rialuwe is unbreakable skin, a scale… different meaning, no wonder it messed up the spell. Rot… I really hate Nim now.”

“Ok…” Kolag echoes. “I’ll leave you to it. You’re clearly busy.”

Figured out that I don't want you to be near me when I smell of rotten fish? “Thanks. I’ll talk to you later, once I figure out this rotten potion!” Seventh attempt is the charm! Again! I can’t give up on this, and I can’t let Salik die.

While the seventh attempt end up with a blinding flash of electricity, and the eighth attempt ends with another blinding flash of energy.

The ninth is a success.

Finally! Rotten hell! Finally!

It’s already night outside. It may took me a while, but it was worth the time and effort. Now I can make sure everyone have plenty of healing potions to spare. It’ll also be a good practice for alchemy…

*~*~*

Interlude 84.1

Olfgram Gemhand

The room is dark and musty, the earthy ceiling is way below the street level. Five figures sit around the wooden table. The red bricks that frame the room end by a black rusty door, an iron door. Ordering this particular door from Apricot City cost a small fortune. But Olfgram has the gold for such things, and if Olfgram has any say, it’s going to stay that way, new queen or not.

Olfgram Gemhand moves his hand in his thick white mustache as he observes his four pillars around the table. They are the Five Fingers of Red Cedar City. Under Olfgram’s command they all became loaded with gold and gems. Olfgram is a business man, he’ll get things done, new Queen or not.

“Luard lost his head already? Any idea where he is?” Regihold Strongjaw asks. The burly dark haired man is managing the small street gangs for Olfgram. He is the one ordering all the gang bosses, making sure they all work together as they squeeze the shopkeepers for money. They pass a good cut for Olfgram. Of course, a cut used to go to Luard. Until now…

“Haven’t heard from him yet,” Olfgram grunts. Luard messed up, lost to some young brat upstart. She already released all of the most dangerous prisoners from the dungeons.

No, she didn’t release them. That rotten knight of Noxi did that. She made him the new Lawmaker. She put Olfgram’s little brother in a cell. By doing so, she declared a war on the Gemhand family.

But jumping into a fight with a sorceress is foolish, oh no. Olfgram isn’t here to fight her, yet. It’s quite possible that she did not know who Garion is. Olfgram would be a fool to declare a war so soon. If that brat could defeat Luard, the Five Fingers should thread carefully around her.

“I had two men to sneak into the Queen’s chambers to peep. They didn’t come back.” Arigald Redbeard notes, moving a hand in that red bush he keeps for his namesake. The scrawny bald man is the head of the thieves guild in Red Cedar City. He also manages a bit of the trade ships.

“Should I send some of mine?” Dana smirks at Arigald, moving a hand in her dark long braid. The beautiful middle-aged woman is the Head Zephyr who manages Koshavi’s temple in the city. But her work as the madam in that brothel is only a cover. Her whores are trained assassins. “That new General already paid a visit to my establishment, do you want me to get rid of him?” she turns her question to Olfgram.

“No. Not yet.” Olfgram taps on the wooden table, gathering his thoughts. If the Queen is unaware of their existence, killing her General will gather some unwanted attention.

“Should I send my runners to the outlaws?” The law growl comes from the last person in the room. A short dark skinned human man could be mistaken for an orc if not for his lack of stature. Mori Terroraxe. A former bandit leader who got tired of his old life, and Olfgram contact with the bandit groups outside the city. “I recently made contact with an orc tribe to the north. Could make it seem like a wild orc attack.”

Olfgram nods. Being prepared can’t hurt. “Talk to the orcs. Tell them to be prepared for a strike. This is too early to decide.

The dark skinned man nods. “I’ll talk to Balgrum then. Are we done for today?”

“We are done.” Olfgram stands up. “Lay low for the time being and assess this new Queen in your own time. No moves on her until I say so, we don’t want to make an enemy of someone who could be our friend.”

Kings and queens come and go. They sit on their fancy throne and pretend they care about giving orders. But everyone knows who the real ruler of Red Cedar City is. Olfgram pulls the strings. And if this new brat thinks she knows better, well, she’s not the only fish in this pond. Olfgram can invite sorcerers from other cities to visit, or possibly even reestablish contact with Luard.

*~*~*

Spells known:
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb.
Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison.

Focus capability: 13 patterns

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

Wealth: 1496 Magic Gems. 1421 Golden Peas, 17 Silver Scales, 12 Copper Bits.

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 potion of Lesser Healing. Self made.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keeps the pouches’ content fresh. Each pouch may contain 10g of petals or six potion flasks.
Fresh rose petals, 45g
Fresh lavender petals, 20g
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. 11/100

Companions:
Kolag of house Befar
Salik
Zoe
Ryon

Languages:
Toml’a <People’s tongue> Fluent
Sinteo <Speech> Fluent
Myrsha <Gravity> 7/10
Felul <Wind> 1/10

Injuries and scars:

Kingdom’s treasury: 305 gems. 41,682 gold coins.

Kingdom’s citizen: 6,021 humans, 2,251 human children.

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

2023-05-30 17:22:23 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 84 in color

2023-05-30 17:21:51 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 83 colorless

Author notes:

This chapter is dedicated to Evnor for supporting me on patreon.

Thank you very much for your support! <3

Chapter 83 One Little Spider.

Sometimes the answer is much simpler than you thought.
Sometimes a question isn’t so complicated.
Sometimes there are no hidden motives.
Sometimes things are just what they seem.
And sometimes they are overly complicated.
While multiple hidden motives converge to create a greater conspiracy.

Tukado, the Creator.

The kitchen is smaller than I expected it to be, and it’s rather crowded. The servants are busy cleaning after dinner.

A slender pinprick of a man, perhaps ten centimeters tall, stands on a shelf. A pair of sharp ears juts out from below his tall white hat. “Faster you lazy bums, I don’t have all day! Faster! Faster!” His squeaky voice is surprisingly loud for his size.

He throws a clove of garlic at one of the maids who dares to chat with her friend. “Don’t think I don’t see your mouth moving Dalya. If your mouth isn’t eating my tiny snake, you should keep it shut! Faster!”

Before I can even react, he addresses me. “Who’re you red? The new maid?! Put on a snaking apron and get to work!” He claps when he notices I’m staring into his tiny purple eyes. “By Koshavi’s pinky lids! Someone put an apron on that girl!”

For a second I consider correcting him, but then I simply take an apron and join the working force. I need some time for my thoughts, and helping these servants can’t hurt. They are too busy working, so none of them recognize me as the Queen. Or at least they pretend they don’t, some of them do distance themselves from me.

After fifteen minutes of cleaning, the kitchen is as good as new. The little wingless fairy man on the shelf claps his hands three times. “Well done, lazy bums! Someone set a fire here!” He points at one of the cooking stations, and nods in approval when one of the manservants does as he asked. “Now off with you all. Enjoy your meal!” The servants disperse slowly, and a buzzing chatter erupts in the nearby hall.

I stand there, eyeing the tiny man in white on the shelf. He has sharp ears… Is he an elf? A full elf? I doubt it… from what I know elves should be human sized or taller… what on Lukam is he?

He jumps from the shelf to the kitchen counter and lifts a frying pan over the fire that seems way too heavy for a miniature man like him. He waves it around like it doesn't weigh much for him and puts it on the fire. He fills it with oil, and throws in chopped potatoes like they're pebbles, except that for a creature of his size, these chopped potatoes are as large as boulders.

I watch silently, and he doesn’t seem to notice my presence. He chews some leaves and focuses on his dish, adding beans, and bell peppers. He cuts onions into the frying pan by jumping up and down with a kitchen knife in hand, the speed of his movement is something my eyes can’t keep track of. He then opens his next sack, spilling dead spiders into the hot pan.

Wait! Spiders?!

He looks at me with a grin that almost splits his tiny face in half.

There’s my spymaster! I raise an eyebrow without showing my excitement on my face. “Don’t you think that’s too dramatic?”

“Ha! By Koshavi’s fat jugs! You’re lecturing me about drama!” his voice changes, mimicking my own with a pretentious tone. “Every town and castle has its spider. No one wants an unfriendly spider in their house.” He wears a deep frown and a serious expression on his face.

I don't sound like that, do I? I try to ignore the blush to my face. “It’s true. And here you are.”

“Hm? I’m standing right here, yes! Marasi, chef extraordinaire!” He takes a small theatrical bow that looks comical with his tiny figure. He then goes back to stirring the frying pan—which is larger than him—with a single hand.

“Why are you still working on that, you’ve made your show. You know nobody is going to eat that…”

My voice dies when he picks a spider from the pan and puts it in his mouth. “Mmmmm! Delicious!”

Ew… “Wait, you knew I’m the queen and you still told me to work for you?!” I regain my wits.

“And you liked it! Even if you’re sweating like a pig now, you enjoyed every second. An hour of good work is like an hour of a good tumble in bed. It’ll leave you exhausted and sweaty, but it’s fulfilling! Feel me?”

“I wouldn’t know anything about that…”

He chews loudly. “Hm? Oh, you’re young indeed. You large folk all look the same sometimes. Would you like me to teach you some bed manners, my Queen?”

Is he hitting on me? Is he out of his mind? Or just fearless? How would sex even work with this guy? I don’t think I want to know that particular detail… “I could have you executed for that.”

“And let all of my hard weaved webs disappear? Please!” Marasi’s sarcasm tells me he isn’t remotely threatened.

It’s good… if he’s that confidant in his information network, it must be good. “How far do your webs reach?”

“If anything happened in this city, or each and every one of the nearest cities, you’ll hear about it. I have some contacts down the river as well, and I will notify you ahead of time if the divine kingdom of Sajarev down south launches another crusade.”

“Did you also work for King Luard? How can…”

“No. I did not work for Luard,” he interrupts me. “Sorcerer or not, I don’t serve pea-for-brains. It’s bad for my heart, feel me?” Marasi pats on his tiny chest.

“So how did he know I was in town? I know he had someone to manage information for him.”

He shrugs and fills two plates with his disgusting stir-fry. “Because a pea-for-brain from my web worked for the other pea-for-brain. Some peas sell themselves to anyone who pays, but every pea has its uses.” He spreads actual green peas on his dish. "You may leave this little pea to me, red, I'll take good care of him."

“I need to know I can trust you before I employ you.”

“You can’t trust me, red, you can’t trust anyone. It’s all a part of the big game of life!” The tiny man sits on the kitchen counter, his thin legs dangling off. He stuffs his mouth with hot potatoes spiders and green peas. "Mmmmm~ sooo goood! Sure you don't want some?" He gestures at the second plate.

I can’t have him leave… but he’s claiming he didn’t work for Luard… is he sitting here waiting for a monarch who prove themselves? Or monarchs who notice him? How does he decide which monarch to serve? Have I proven myself to him by finding him?

Does it matter? I don’t know this… man? Creature? Whatever. I don’t know him, no idea what his agenda is, I can’t trust him… I can’t let him leave town either, not with all of his webs still in place. I’ll have to either use him while being wary of him. Or execute him and lose his information network… Part of the game of life he called it?

Enough. I can’t just live on paranoia all the time… I'll trust him until he proves me otherwise, but it's best if I get some insurance.

“Is there any way you can prove your loyalty? Or is there anything I can do for you to ensure your loyalty?” I ask, frowning. "Everyone want something."

“You can eat my tiny snake if you want, but I can’t promise you it’ll help!” He stands up on the counter, unbuckling his miniature pants.

Is he checking how far I can be pushed around? “Latsa.” <Lift> he isn’t heavy, my magic lifts him with ease. I press him against the ceiling with my mind. His white hat floats slowly to the ground, exposing his short brown hair.

I can’t find any chairs so I sit on the counter. “Make another suggestive comment and I will hand you over to Kolag. The new Lawmaker? He’s my boyfriend, and I don’t think he’d like hearing about your ideas of bed manners… Now. Give me a reason why I shouldn’t kill you here and now?”

“I have a tiny snake and I make good food!” His words are very fast, but I can still make them out. He bursts into a wild laughter when he sees the dumbfounded look on my face.

I palm my face. Oh brother… this guy is going to get along greatly with Ryon… food and sex with these two… Letting him live is a risk… am I willing to take it? Killing him will leave me blind, it’ll take a while to build my own information network… And with Sharla being away… But what if he supplies me with false information? It’s best to remain blind…

What does he want? I need to find what he wants in life in order to control him. But he’s like Ryon… food and sex… He has these things here as much as he wants… not that I want to know how he engages in sex… But he has no reason to work for someone else, and no one can buy him… Or it’s an act, covering what he really wants. Ryon couldn’t have set up such an information network, but this little guy did! I need to see past his act… I really need to learn some mind-reading spells…

“What are you? Are you an elf? Why are you so small? How old are you? Why are you working here?” I ask, still getting my thoughts in order.

“Hm? I’m an elfling, Koshavi made us before she made the pricks who call themselves elves. And I’m a thirty-seven years old Elfling in his prime! The reason I work here is:” He makes a long pause for a dramatic effect. “Because I have a thing for human women such as yourself…”

I tuck my hair behind my ear exposing the sharp edge. “I’m not sure I classify as human. Please stop flirting with me, I’m not interested…” Oh hells why do I even bother…

“Hm? Are you sure you aren’t interested in me, red?” He looks down at me and raise his thin eyebrows multiple times, still held against the ceiling by my magic.

Ew…

Wait… is this another test? This guy had tested me before… made me work around the kitchen before he revealed himself to be the spymaster… who knows if he would’ve revealed himself if I got angry and declared I was the queen…

He said he didn’t work for Luard… Luard probably didn’t pass his test. I bet Luard got angry and whipped him or something… No, Luard would’ve killed him, I bet he didn’t even test Luard. Ok. So let’s think! What is this little guy aiming for by trying to get into my skirts?

This guy has been sitting here weaving his webs for a while, he obviously doesn’t want people to find out he’s the spymaster. Yet he just told me he’s the spymaster, then started flirting with me shamelessly… almost desperate even… this doesn’t make much sense…

If he’s going to be my spymaster, and still keep his identity a secret… we need a way to communicate. I can’t come down here to the kitchen every time, that’ll expose him… however. If people think he share my sheets; he has the perfect excuse to come into my room whenever he wants… But that makes him a target for other sorcerers, and make no sense whatsoever… that’s a high-profile spot… It wouldn’t make him a target. Monarchs here are hedonistic enough for this kind of thing… doesn’t mean they care about their lovers… and he’s exotic enough for it to be a thing…

But this isn’t the image I want to project to my people. I can’t have that.

I move him down from the ceiling with my mind and make him sit on the kitchen counter near me. “Ok, I understand what you’re suggesting. Stop with the silly tests and let’s get to business. I’ll keep coming down here to the kitchen to make potions regularly, I’ll clear the people in the kitchen, and say I don’t want anyone getting hurt by my experiments and…”

“You have an alchemy lab in this palace. It’s best if you claimed I’m your lover, easier for me to do my job.” He gives me another face splitting smile. So I was right!

“What if I was a man? How would you approach this?”

He roll his eyes at me. “Just the same. I don’t care if a man or a woman eat my snake. You want me in your bed, and you can have me on your lap or in a more comfortable place during meetings…” He eyes my chest.

“It puts you at risk, and it places you in the perfect position to assassinate me. I’m not comfortable with that. Tell you what, I’ll promote another spymaster, claiming you never made contact. You’ll just be the chef. Tasiya will be the fake spymaster. She will make regular visits to the kitchen to check on the stuff, and it won’t look too odd…”

He throws a spider in his mouth and lick his lips with an unnatural long tongue that reaches his chin. “I’m responsible for your food, it’s a perfect position for assassination. But you’re the queen, and you aren’t a pea-for-brain. I’ll follow your command. Unless you still want to kill me?”

“I’m thinking about it. Be very careful with your game, elfling…”

“Don’t worry! I’m not a gnome, I don’t have any secrets, feel me?” He bursts into a high pitched laughter.

“I think I prefer gnomes…” I pick my ingredients and head for the gardens to pick the lavender.

*~*~*

Interlude 74.1

Marasi

Marasi releases a huge deflating breath. This is bad for his heart. “One day your luck will run out,” his mother always said. Not today! That crazy queen bought up his made up story, and now he’s moving up in the world. From a lowly chef to the acting spymaster.

He puts another spider in his mouth. These are really good actually. It feels even better eating them in the presence of that young sorceress, the face she made was all the sky in the world. Imagine what kind of face she’ll make when she finds out he only has some rumors from his suppliers. He wishes he could see all the types of faces she can make.

A towering suit of armor enters the kitchen, creaking with each step. What is that, who covers their face with metal?! How is he supposed to see his face now, huh?! All these crazy large folk aren’t good for his heart, where are all the servile servants when he needs them?

“What is a cursed fae doing… No. You’re an elfling. Get out of this palace, of this city, you have until tomorrow.” The threat is a calm echo, by the tone alone, Marasi wouldn’t consider it a threat.

“I’m the chef here, pea-for-brains! I’m not a trouble maker elfling.”

"That's what every elfling would say," the suit of armor replies with an echoing threat. "Get out. If you're still here by tomorrow I'll have..."

"Ask everyone in the palace. I've worked here for years. I'm the chef, for Koshavi's sake!"

The armor observes him for a very long minute. Marasi sweats gigantic drops that could fill up a soup. The armor lets out an echoing sigh. “Apologies, chef. But if I find out you’re lying about your role, you’ll be chased out. Am I making myself clear?” The echoing voice coming from the suit is tired. “I cannot eat solid food, is it ok if I use this kitchen? I can cook by myself and I won’t bother you.”

“Marasi! Chef extraordinaire.” Marasi introduces himself with a shaky bow. It’s a shame an elfling can’t grow facial hair, Marasi really needs a mustache, people keep thinking he’s just a little trouble making child but he’s already way past the prime of his life. He doesn’t have much left to live. He needs to have one last great adventure before he meets the singers of Koshavi. “Use the kitchen as you like, my boy.”

The armored suit busies himself with the utensils, creating a horrible mesh of food.

Marasi watches how the mesh slowly turns into the worst soup he had ever seen. This is bad, Marasi can’t help himself. “No! No! No! You don’t mix oranges with tomatoes, too much acid! By Koshavi’s pinky lids! Who taught you how to cook? People who don’t know how to cook are bad for my heart, feel me?”

“I can cook just fine, here, have a taste.” The armor suit offers him a spoon filled with the odd red soup.

“Pa! Pui! Get out of my kitchen!” This also has a horrible taste. This armor isn’t sane, it doesn’t have a face. Of course it doesn’t know how to make food for proper mortals.

“No.” The armor says stubbornly while draining the horrific soup through a weird straw.

“Wait, you’re the Queen’s windyboy!” Marasi suddenly remember who this faceless armor should be.

“My name is Kolag of house Befar, not the Queen’s windyboy,” the armor says with a clear disdain in his echoing voice.

“Yes, yes, that’s not important. You wear an armor because she doesn’t want to share your handsome face, I understand. So why won’t you eat in her chambers and take off that armor.”

The windyboy in the armor grunts. “I can’t”

“Why not?”

“I can’t take the armor off, ever.”

“Because?”

The windyboy in the armor ignores him.

“Then how do you stick your snake in the queen?”

The armor keeps ignoring him, draining the soup through the straw.

“How do you clean the rot from your body?”

No response.

Marasi jumps off the counter and smells the armor’s ass. No smell, definitely not a sane mortal, sane mortals need to get rid of their rot.

A huge metallic hand grabs him. Marasi finds himself held in the air. What happened to his luck? He can’t show stress, his luck is always there. “Like it rough, windyboy?” he asks, counting on his luck.

“I have a demon inside me. If I take off my armor, it’ll kill everyone within a hundred miles. He also eats up my feces. Satisfied now?” The voice echoes angrily with each word uttered.

“Oh, that sucks!” Marasi says without a care in the world, his luck will save him this time too. And indeed, the armored gauntlet puts him on the kitchen counter and keeps drinking his insane faceless soup. “Why does the Queen like you if you can’t stick your snake in her?” Marasi asks. He finds the odd pair rather curious.

The armored boy groans, “you’ll have to ask her.”

“You’re not a chatty fellow, are you?”

Another grunt.

Marasi hits the helmet with a wooden spoon. If the faceless boy won’t make a noise, he’ll make it for him! Yes, his luck will worry about the rest.

“Don’t test me, elfling. The protection your kind has from your goddess will only last for so long.”

The boy is aware of the elfling’s luck! How can someone who’s not an elfling be aware of it? What’s this boy’s story? Who is he? Marasi stares at the armored monster quietly, thoughts running throughout his head and cold sweat trickles down his back. No wonder the boy could catch him then!

The armored boy washes his bowl and leaves the kitchen with a creaking metallic step. Dangerous people have come to Red Cedar City. Luard, Reynold, and Drusilla were peas for brains fools, none of them noticed good old Marasi… but these two are bad for his heart, It might be best if Marasi change locations soon. Maybe he should leave for his grand adventure early. Yes.

*~*~*

Spells known:
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb.
Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison.

Focus capability: 13 patterns

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

Wealth: 1496 Magic Gems. 1421 Golden Peas, 17 Silver Scales, 12 Copper Bits.

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.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keeps the pouches’ content fresh.
Fresh rose petals, 22g
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. 11/100

Companions:
Kolag of house Befar
Salik
Zoe
Ryon

Languages:
Toml’a <People’s tongue> Fluent
Sinteo <Speech> Fluent
Myrsha <Gravity> 7/10
Felul <Wind> 1/10

Injuries and scars:

Kingdom’s treasury: 305 gems. 41,682 gold coins.

Kingdom’s citizen: 6,021 humans, 2,251 human children.

Notables at Court:
Tasiya Keyholder
Jolla SilverQuill
Talbot Bookkeeper
Marasi Chef extraordinaire (spymaster.)

2023-05-27 17:33:23 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 83 in color

2023-05-27 17:32:57 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 82 colorless

Author notes:

This chapter is dedicated to James Flitcroft for supporting me on Patreon.

Thank you so much for your support! <3

Chapter 82 Broken Shackles.

Those who take a life over insults,
are an insult to life itself.
They cannot be forgiven.
Yet, before you decide to take their lives.
Think of their loved ones, their hopes and dreams.
Each life has them. Each life is precious, even those.

Brigit, the Lady of Life.

Red Cedar City.

Managing a city of this scale isn’t easy, and the so-called “king” left a huge mess behind him. The guy couldn’t care less for his people. As long as he had his woman, magical books, and poor people to torment in his dungeon, the rest of the world could burn.

As for surrounding villages around the city like I used to have back at Nurio, these do not exist. After investigating, I find out that the last surviving village had disappeared ten years ago by a monster attack. While other villages had been wiped even earlier due to wars with other city states and kingdoms.

People flock to the city states on the Gray Islands. People who go out to construct villages are treated like suicidal madmen.

The roads are unsafe. Mainly due to monsters, but also a few large bands of brigands or wild orc tribes who brave the world outside and rob anything of value.

Yet, many people choose to use the roads anyway, braving the dangers by forming large caravans.

Red Cedar City can sustain itself without the roads at least.

It has a freshwater supply due to the wide Red River at the east. Olives, oranges, and lemons plantations, along with wheat fields at the north for food. A few animal herds graze the deforested area west of the city. And what the city can’t produce it imports through the river.

The Red River is the main traffic route on this side of the Gray Islands. Traders sail up and down its currents, along with passengers and odd travelers. Red Cedar City exports wood and woodwork throughout the year. The cedar forest surrounding the city from all direction is an endless supply. Carpenters and woodcutters are the most common jobs found throughout Red Cedar City.

"By Noxi's light! When I get my hands on Luard, I'll feed him to the demons!" Kolag bursts into the council room when we're about to finish.

"Kolag?"

"Inara, you've got to see this!" he shouts, losing all sense of decorum.

I sigh and turn to follow him. He leads me below the palace, to the wide dungeons. The pungent smells are unbearable even before I get close. I'm all too familiar with this type of stench, it brings back unpleasant memories from my time as a slave. Human misery have a special kind of odor to it.

I don't want to follow Kolag through this door, but I know I have to face it. At least I'm not the one in chains this time...

Dozens of people, male and female, young and old, are all freed from their chains. Many of them are mutilated and clearly endured unspeakable torment. The torture devices in these cells are something I had never imagined could even be dreamed up by sickened minds, let alone actually created and used.

Maids crowd the narrow hall, handing food and water to the people who just gained their newfound freedom.

"Can you heal them?" Kolag asks.

"I..." I swallow back the acid lurching up in my throat. "No. I still need to learn how to create healing potions or cast effective healing spells..."

He grunts. "They'll have their freedom! And they'll have medicine. Anything you can find on a short notice, Tasiya," he orders my Keyholder.

"Yes, Lord Sir Kolag." She curtsies and turns to order her maids around.

"And you!" He turns to the only man behind bars. Garion Gemhand, Luard's Lawmaker. "We'll hold your trial tomorrow. You have a lot of explaining to do."

Garion holds onto the bronze bars. "So you'll blame me for the King's actions?! That was..."

"Save it for your trial!" Kolag cuts him off.

The bald man swallows and looks at the freed prisoners. "Some of these people are guilty. That woman over there, the one without her left eye. Naura. Yes. She murdered her own infant child, threw him from the roof of her own house. The man with the red hair, Aridelo the Red, he’s a serial killer, if you let him loose, people will die. That..."

The red haired man gets up from his corner and runs toward the doors, and Kolag blocks his way with an angry stomp.

The red haired man grabs a shrieking maid and holds her by the neck. "He lies! He's a liar! I'm not the killer! The killer is still out there. I'm not going back to that cell!"

"If you want me to believe in a shred of your innocence, you'll let that girl go. Right. Now." Kolag's towers over him.

"Let me go, and I..." before he can finish his reply, three of the other prisoners pull him off the screaming maid.

The men drag him to the ground and beat him up relentlessly. "You killed my son! My son!!!" "This is for Garta! You piece of rot!" Two of them shouts their vengeance, while the third remains stoically silent as he kicks and stomp down the killer.

I ignore the poetic justice to my right and turn to the raven haired woman who supposedly killed her own child. She attempts to hide behind the others, without much success. I won't ask if she did it... she might just admit her own guilt if I ask why... "Why did you do it?"

"It... it was a mistake. Shilo was crying too much and I couldn't take it anymore... are you going to kill me?" Her single brown eye actually looks hopeful in the face of death. With the torture devices around, I can see why.

I shouldn't infringe on Kolag's authority, I gave him the job, I'll let him do it without interference... "It's not up to me. It's up to Kolag who's the new Lawmaker. But I'll have to ask you to go back to your cell until your trial. I'm sorry."

She nods and slowly steps into an empty dirty cell.

I turn to Tasiya. "I want those cells cleaned. And these things..." I point at the section with the torture device. "Give them away to a smith. Forge them into some tools people can actually use."

"Yes, Your Majesty." The maids are already carrying the mobile torture devices on their way out.

In the meantime the serial killer is beaten bloody. A few of the other prisoners take their chance to hurt him. One could think these people didn't go through torture themselves yesterday, and now they vent their pain by inflicting suffering on others, justified or not. Mob justice... I know all too well how easily a mob can be created by lies...

"Do we know if he's actually guilty?" I ask Kolag.

"Your Majesty," Tasiya interjects. "There were witnesses. He was caught in the act. The murders also stopped once he was arrested."

"I see. Thank you, Tasiya." And sometimes it's well deserved. I can't judge them too harshly, I doubt they had an easy time in these cells...

She nods.

"That's enough." Kolag stops the angry crowd. "You three. Put him back in his cell. We'll hold his trial tomorrow." Two of the three men drags the killer into the cell, while Kolag turns to Garion. "Anyone else who's guilty here?"

The former Lawmaker frowns. "The blond woman over there is a thief, and..."

"Ya and yar King are thieves!" The middle aged woman roars. "I took what's mine, you rotten pea brain!"

"...And the man over there is also a thief, yeah, the one that's trying to hide. I also don't see Gulsar, but also a thief."

"Yar King executed him." The chubby woman spits on the former Lawmaker.

Kolag nods. "Fine. All thefts are pardoned. Any murders? Rape?"

The Lawmaker shakes his head.

"He's the rapist." The blond woman spits on the former Lawmaker again. "Led them soldier up to rape ma daughter, he did. Before the King executed her."

"Save it for his trail tomorrow, my fair lady."

“Aisha, not me fair lady,” she replies.

Kolag pats on her shoulder and turns to the men who stopped the serial killer. "You three. What are your names?"

"Simor, sir!" The tanned man salutes with a fist on his chest.

"Name's Yalvin." The middle aged man nods at the third one on his right. "This is Sharr. By Jalier's grace, King Luard removed his tongue."

By Jalier's grace?! These people are crazy!

Kolag nods. "I'm Kolag. I'm your new Lawmaker and I'll be responsible for the order in this city from this day onward. The current guard are corrupt. I want to make my own PeaceKeepers Knights. You three are my first recruits should you agree to join. The wages are fair, and our laws are just. Unlike Luard's folly. Anyone else who wishes to join is welcome. Even if you are injured, we could use people who watch the streets at night. We could use people to deliver messages, and people to receive them. Women are welcome too, should any of you fair ladies want to join?"

A middle-aged woman snorts. She limps near Kolag, pats his pauldron, and moves ahead to talk with Tasiya in low voices.

"Me name's Martin, sir! I wish to join as well!" A young man jumps forward.

"Good. Welcome to the PeaceKeepers Knights, Martin. Folks!" He turns to the rest of the freed people. "We carry trials for these three tomorrow. Spread the word. If anyone wishes to testify against them, the trial will be carried in the city's square."

He definitely stepped into his role. I can go back to managing things...

After the council session I go back to my room and teach Zoe her first meditation method, starting with the gravity pool.

Once she gets past her giddiness, I explain to her that it might take a while until she can feel mana. I make it clear that she might never awaken her magic at all, but if she wants to try so badly, who am I to deny her that?

After I get her situated, I delve into my own magical studies. Since the need for medicine and healing potion became urgent, I decide to go over the alchemy book. Besides, in less than half a year, Salik will run out of glitter. If I don’t learn how to make glitter by that time, I’ll have to watch him die. It's better to start early.

I flip pages in the alchemy book, looking for the glitter recipe, curious of what it entails.

Alchemy. This is a mix of chemical processes and magical infusions. Most alchemical potions require wood mana to be infused at specific times, but all the other basic elements are there too, and oftentimes advanced elements that I don't understand yet.

After a while of skimming through the book, I find the recipe for glitter. A bottle of human ectoplasm, and a human heart from the same human. Five wolf’s teeth, wolf’s liver, two wolf eyes, all from the same wolf. Two eyes from the same cat. Two guran leaves. Three poppy flowers, Five basil leaves. A single bellflower. A single onion root, honey. The following describes the process of making the potion, which is a whole lot more complicated than I imagined.

But I can’t make myself read it.

I skip and find the part that explains that the human’s ectoplasm and heart can come from a magical beast, and only then I relax. I grit my teeth at the note that says that this magical beast has to weigh at least 150 kg.

The hag did this on purpose… she could’ve given Salik glitter for two years or more. She’s forcing me to learn alchemy, and she wants me to take the easier way and use humans as ingredients for the potions… That bitch…

Am I really surprised? She did way worse already… I’ll hunt magical animals for these potions… I’ll have Salik hunt them. This potion is complicated, there’s no telling if I succeed on the first try… If I need to kill a magical beast for each attempt at creating this potion, I’ll need to work very hard in order to keep Salik alive… At least Salik is no stranger to killing these magical beasts…

But I might lose men in the process… and I’ll need to come with him to fill up the ectoplasm bottles… all while managing a city… not to mention, I need ectoplasm and beasts’ meat for my own advancement…

This is a headache… I’m so glad I looked at this glitter recipe early so I can prepare ahead of time… For now I should focus on learning basic alchemy. I need to learn this craft, so let’s find something simpler to make…

Like the Lesser Healing Potion. it's not so simple, but it's easier than glitter. I'll skip the sleeping potion and brew something that's actually useful… I like the challenge, and the glitter is way harder than a Lesser Healing Potion.

I look at the recipe. A drop of blood from the alchemist, lavender, a single lizard scale of any kind, a pair of fish scales and eyes of any kind.

It also require some magic, but the chants, patterns, and gestures are all in the book.

That’s it… it should take about half an hour to make… looks pretty simple… I can also get most of the materials, though I’m unsure where I can find lizard scales…

I leave my room for the library and find my gnome advisor near her desk, writing. “Jolla, was it?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” She takes the strange glass device off her face, staring at me with her strange white eyes.

“Mind telling me what that device on your face is for?” I ask curiously.

“Ah, this, Your Majesty?” She lifts the device, showing it to me. “It’s called glasses. I’m getting old, my eyesight has weakened. These glasses simply help me see better.”

Definitely not a mage… glasses… you’re lucky you live in such a remote place. Mages would kill you for possessing glass elsewhere. But those eyes aren’t natural. “Why do you wear glass when you possess magical eyes?”

“Magical eyes, Your Majesty? Pah, you mean my eye color? Some gnomes have white eyes, although a bit uncommon, it is natural. It has the same rarity ratio of green eyes for a human.”

“I see… good to know. Do you know where I can find some lizard scales?”

Her response is to fish out a small purse from her drawer and drop it on her desk.

I open it, the purse is filled with thin almost transparent scales. “Are you sure it’s coming from a lizard?”

“Bah what do you take me for? A dwarf? I'm not here to cheat you. You’re not the first sorcerer who asks for this ingredient,” she answers as puts her glasses back on, and jots down in her open book. “I’ll keep acquiring it and pay the cost from your treasury.”

“You’re very competent.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty. You can find lavender in the gardens and fish in the kitchen.” She answers distractingly, still writing in her book.

*~*~*

Interlude 82.1

Berthold.

Berthold huffs, holding the fragile fairy in his arms. Not many men can say that their first time had been with a fairy. Now he's glad about all those women who rejected him, a fairy likes him! A fairy! Their last hour together still makes him doubt reality.

"Ever heard about the fae monarchs?" Sharla asks, tracing her long fingers across his shoulders.

Is being with a woman always feels so amazing? Or is it just being with a fairy? He wants her again, but it's clear she's had enough, and he can't push it. "No. Never."

"They're like gods to the fae... hmmm, not exactly gods. But they watch over us. They're ancient, and powerful. You can make a pact with one, they do accept humans and other mortals. You'll have to ditch that dragon you call a goddess though. She used to be a fae monarch too, a very long time ago..."

"Who? Tonisha?" The Lady of Venture. The Mother of all Dragons. Goddess of Survival and Monsters. He had been worshiping her since his early teens. Back when becoming an adventurer from the bard tales and earning enough money to keep his mother and sister alive was just an idea in its infancy. Back when he was running across the streets of Axero for coppers just so they could eat.

A slender finger crosses his lip in a shushing motion. "Shhhhh don't say her name. The Lady of Venture, yes. We'll speak of this another time, once her attention is away. When I bring the subject up again, don't say her name, ok?"

"Ok... do you... do you want to go again?"

Sharla chuckles. "Don't ask me that, Sunayaknash! If you want to go again, just kiss me. If I don't want to go again, I'll avoid you and you should be able to tell I'm not into it. Unless you're with an inexperienced girl, then it's best to ask everything. Hmmmm, yeah."

"I have no other girl, and I will never have anyone else but you," Berthold declares. It's true. She's the first woman to ever let him into her bed, and probably the last.

"Never is such a long time, Sunayaknash. You do remember I'm immortal, hmm?"

"So... are you avoiding me now?" He needs to make sure, he can't just assume things.

"Yup. Because you asked."

Morning. The road crosses the vast green forest. Berthold follows King Luard's tracks, last night still replaying in his mind. He doesn't need his full attention, these tracks are still easy as ever. The death cultist writes a letter and hands it to one of Berthold's five men, a report to carry back to Inara.

The other four are looking at Berthold with knowing glances. Yesterday he thought he'd want to talk and brag all about it, today he'd rather keep the details to himself, and he can't even bring himself to tell a fake version. Any fake version would be less than the real deal, the reason for making up a story is to make it more, not less.

He watches the death worshiper. Berthold hopes the man will hate him for last night, it'd be a small revenge on the followers of Tiyadi. But the the death priest doesn't even glance in Berthold's direction. Instead, Jerro leads Inara's stallion toward the thick forest. What is he doing?

Jerro slaps the horse's side, and the horse bolts into the forest without its rider. "What are you doing?!" Berthold yells. "That's Inara's horse! She'll kill you!"

The death worshiper glares coldly and doesn't respond. He then turns his head to Sharla and the rest of the men. "Let's go."

*~*~*

Spells known:
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb.
Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison.

Focus capability: 13 patterns

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

Wealth: 1496 Magic Gems. 1421 Golden Peas, 17 Silver Scales, 12 Copper Bits.

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.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keeps the pouches’ content fresh.
Fresh rose petals, 22g
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. 11/100

Companions:
Kolag of house Befar
Salik
Zoe
Ryon

Languages:
Toml’a <People’s tongue> Fluent
Sinteo <Speech> Fluent
Myrsha <Gravity> 7/10
Felul <Wind> 1/10

Injuries and scars:

Kingdom’s treasury: 305 gems. 41,682 gold coins.

Kingdom’s citizen: 6,021 humans, 2,251 human children.

Notables at Court:
Tasiya Keyholder
Jolla SilverQuill
Talbot Bookkeeper

2023-05-23 17:27:20 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 82 in color

2023-05-23 17:26:47 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 81 colorless

Author notes:

To be clear. If you do not want a chapter dedicated to you for whatever reason while supporting me on Patreon, please let me know and I'll get your name off the list.

(I made a separate post asking about it a few weeks back, but there are new people and I’m not sure if everyone would want something like that. Some may have missed that post.)

The next dedication will be on Tuesday. Putting it here again just in case.

On another note. I’m moving the Tuesday’s release time by a few hours. The release time will be moved by a few hours later to around 6 PM GMT or 2 PM ET. (Similar to the Saturday chapter release hour.) The current Tuesday time is often problematic for me.

Thank you very much for reading. I hope you all have fun. <3

And thank you all for your support.

Chapter 81 Meeting the Advisors.

Paranoia is a good thing.
It keeps you alive, it keeps you alert.
But never let others learn of your paranoia,
or they’ll use it against you.

Rakisha, Mother of all Demons.

The next few hours I spend in my room, meditating. I am nearly done connecting my crown-knot mana-pool. The bath I took with Kabit back at Axero had brought me very close. I do my best to connect to little bit that's left, but to no avail. Using my enchanted necklace doesn't help, I don’t feel any progress whatsoever, and this is with the mana-pool I have the most affinity for.

Kynator wasn’t joking when he said this part makes apprentices quit… I need more souls… or this will take me a while just for that little bit of progress… I’d normally go on a hunt with Berthold, but he’s out tracking king Luard and Sharla… I can try going out with Salik… No time for this, I need to manage the city and fix the mess the king must’ve left here, I doubt he cared for the common people…

Zoe wakes me up from my deep trance and tells me that everyone I asked for had gathered. I let her lead me to the council room since I still don’t know my own palace yet.

“You seem to be fitting into your new role rather quickly…” I comment as we walk the blue carpet-covered corridors.

Zoe’s smile brightens even the cold stony corridor. “Oh, Tasiya is a great teacher, Master. And I already worked as a maid for two years at lord Gemhand’s house. I’m no stranger to the job, that’s why I offered myself.”

I nod. “I want you as my personal maid then. Remind me tonight before I go to bed, I’ll give you your first lesson on magic.”

She holds my wrists and lets out an excited squeal. “Really?!”

“Yes, really.” I try way too hard not to roll my eyes.

“Oh, sorry, Your Majesty, Master, I got carried away. It’s always been my dream…” she retreats awkwardly, averting her gaze.

“I’m aware, Zoe… Please don’t get your hopes up. We don’t know if you have the talent for magic yet. And if you don’t…”

She holds my hands again, unable to keep her emotions in check. “Can’t you like – check if I have the talent?”

I reach out with my crown-knot pool, but I feel nothing special from her, just a little bit of mana like any other human being. Does it mean she has no talent? Or does it simply mean she hasn’t used any magic yet and doesn’t have a lot of mana in her body? If it was so easy to tell someone’s potential, I doubt the tower would recruit in the cruel way they do… is there no way around getting magic through danger?

“If there’s a way to check such a thing, I haven’t learned of it yet. I do know that the best way to awaken your magic is to have your life placed in danger without any iron on your body… But we obviously won’t put you in risk for that.”

She nods, eyes sparkling despite what I just told her.

I sigh and continue. “Zoe, I’ll be honest with you. I’m still learning about magic myself. I don’t know everything, but I’ll teach you what I do know, ok?”

“Do you have a master too?” She still holds my wrists, almost dancing on the spot.

“Yes.”

“What is he like?”

I sigh. “She, and she’s terrifying. Believe me, you wouldn’t want to meet her.”

Her giddiness disappears in an instant, and she lets my arms go. “Oh I’ve seen what evil sorcerers can do. Is your master one of those sorcerers who kills people for no reason?”

I look into her brown eyes. “Worse. She kills people for a very good reason, and that’s the problem, because she’ll keep doing it… I’d rather not talk about that.”

She picks my hands again. “It’s ok, I understand. There are evil people out there. But magic is just a tool, whether we use this tool to do good or evil is up to us right?”

And how do you define good and evil? Religion? Culture? How do you know if your religion or culture got it right? Conscience? How do you know your conscience isn’t tipped with your egoistical self-interests?

There is no clear correct way to define what’s right and what’s wrong… normally I’d focus on “what hurts people is wrong” but even this isn’t foolproof… what if my action helps one and hurts another, or my inaction… like with Lezere’s body… giving her back to her family would hurt Kolag, not giving her up would hurt her father… And lying to Kolag about it, eats me from the inside…

Why am I just standing here? “We’ve stopped walking,” I comment dryly. “Will you show me to the council room, please?”

“Oh, yes, Master! Sorry, Your Majesty.”

A few more turns in these stony hallways and I enter the council room. The large room features a round table and a golden chandelier overhead. My banners are already draped over the stony walls, and there's even a small wooden sculpture of horse above the fireplace. How the snake did they get it all ready within a day?

Kolag, Salik, and Ryon are already here, sitting around the table. I survey the unfamiliar dignitaries at their seats as I wonder where Jerro is.

A short female gnome is the first to attract my attention. Her golden hair is tied up in a messy ponytail, and she wears a strange intricate device on her face, behind it a pair of white eyes scans me back. She turns her gaze back to her parchment, her quill jotting down at a fast pace.

I’ve never seen white eyes before, only mages or fae have strange eye colors.

I reach out with my crown-knot and don’t get any feeling of mana from her. It’s like she’s not even there. Even people without mana or magic give out something, but there isn’t even the faintest clue that there’s a person there. She's magically invisible, it's almost as if she's an illusion. Maybe it’s the device on her face… if it’s glass, it should create a small mana-less field around it… But she couldn’t be a mage and wear a glass…

Not a time for curiosity. I keep moving my gaze to the others in the room. The next unfamiliar person is an elderly man with a long white beard. He keeps moving beads in his abacus while murmuring to himself.

The last man is familiar to me. A bald man, wearing a tailored black suit with blue patterns on it. His cane leans on his chair and he moves his hand in his white oiled mustache as he makes a friendly conversation with Tasiya. You… you were the one the king had sent to pick a wife from the women he had abducted… you piece of rot! What the hell are you doing here sitting in this room like you belong here?! Apathy… composure… focus! Control myself and investigate first…

Screw composure! I’m the queen here! That man had soldiers trying to rape me!

“You!” I point at the man who treated all those women like slabs of meat a few days ago.

He gets up to his feet and gives me a nobleman bow. “Garion Gemhand, Lawmaker, at your service, Your Majesty.”

Calm down, I’m going to kill this man in a moment… but I need to do it right, and it needs to be legitimate. If I go around killing people randomly, all I’ll achieve is terror, and that’s not what I’m aiming for… Everyone here needs to hear what he did first and why I'm executing him. “Lawmaker… You don’t even recognize me, do you?”

He uses a handkerchief to wipe the sweat off his forehead. “I beg your pardon?”

“I was with the women the king abducted a couple of days back, you left us to…”

He drops to his knees, face full of terror. “I had no idea, Your Majesty! Please, forgive me!”

I cross my hands. “And that makes it better?! Who cares if you had any idea or not. You let the guards rape those women!”

“I only did as I was told! Please believe me! Please spare me!” He kneels lower on his hands. “I did not participate in these acts! I could have, but I didn’t! Please, you have to believe me! I had no choice!”

I still can’t wipe his sneer from my mind. “You want me to believe that the king had ordered you to order the guards to violate those women?!”

“Yes! Princess Drusilla ordered that. She said that it was a reward for the soldiers. I had no choice but to carry her orders. I can’t say no to a sorceress! P-please. Please, spare me!” He crawls forward and kisses my shoes repeatedly.

I move my legs back in disgust. What in the five hells makes a grown man kiss someone’s boots like that?! Mages… Mages who treat humans like livestock… I can imagine the king, or one of his ‘princes’ forcing this man to kiss their feet…

I tuck my hair behind my ear. What am I going to do with him? Did he have no choice? Is he a victim here? Or is he a Rakshasa playing human? How can I tell?

My gaze lands on Kolag. I don’t know… but Kolag always seems to know what justice is, he doesn’t have the same inner doubts I do…

“On your feet,” I order dryly.

The man stands up, visibly shaking. Is he really so scared of me? Yes he is, I can kill him with a thought and he knows it. Of course he’s scared… It’s nice to have this power… I like it… but I don’t want people to fear me so much…

“Garion was your name?” Yes, I have power that can kill them, but it’s all about the image and impression I give these people.

“Yes, Your Majesty! Please, spare me!”

I’ll give them the image of a wise queen, one they want to follow… “If your heart and choices can be influenced by fear, it can be influenced by greed as well. I do not want you as my Lawmaker. You have no place judging people or settling disputes, and you certainly can’t be my face to the people…”

“Yes, Your Majesty! Thank you, Your Majesty!” He runs toward the door.

“I did not say you could go.” He stops, frozen in place. “Kolag?” My armored boyfriend shifts uncomfortably. He looks weird without the claymore leaning on his shoulder. “Justice is always important to you. You care for people, yet you will not forgive crimes against others, you kill those you deem criminals with swift precision. You’re the new lawmaker, and Garion is your first case. I don’t know whether he’s innocent or guilty, and I trust you to give him a fair trial.” Problem solved… and Kolag can take over all these cases that torture my conscience…

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Kolag answers with a stiff echo. “I’ll take him to the dungeons for now.” He takes the man’s arm, leading him outside.

I address the rest. “Introduce yourselves you two.” I raise my chin at the gnome and the old man.

The blond gnome stands up first. “Jolla Silverquill, Your Majesty. Chronicler, scholar, diplomat and sociologist. I will write down all of your deeds to make sure you are remembered throughout Red Cedar City’s history. I watch the library and responsible for all the knowledge kept in here. I’m here to answer your questions about the world, Tolste’s Island, or Red Cedar City. I’ll advise on historical, geographical and diplomatic matters. I can also act as a neutral ambassador should the need arises.” She sits back down, fixes the fragile device on her face, and keeps writing down in her parchments.

“Thank you, Jolla. What about you?” I ask the elderly man. He ignores me and keeps moving beads in his abacus while mumbling to himself.

The golden-haired gnome elbows his arm. He lifts his head abruptly. “Hm? What? What did you do that for?”

“Her Majesty wants you to introduce yourself.”

“Oh! Ah, yeah. Ahem, I’m sorry, Majesty. There are currently 8,272 souls living in Red Cedar City, 6,021 whom are adults, and 2,251 whom are under the age of fifteen. Ahem! This report is inaccurate since I have not calculated the deaths from the battle yet, and hadn’t received any accurate casualty report.”

I asked for your name... My lips twitch with a smile.

So, almost a ten thousand people under my command already… this wasn’t so hard… Only had to get Lezere killed for it…

Ok, stop, the dead won’t come back to life, it’s time to move on. I’m not going on a conquest for more people, I don’t want to lose anyone else. Let’s turn this city into a peaceful place people want to live in, it’ll attract more population.

I also have to keep it safe, and make sure I don’t lose more people… Just hold out for two years, grow the population a bit, and everything is going to be alright…

The elderly man keeps reading from the parchments he holds, combing his long white beard with a distracted hand. “The treasury currently hold 41,682 gold coins. 305 sorcerer stones. There are jewelry of some worth, but I can’t give you an accurate number. The former king had taken some of them along with most of the sorcerer stones when he left. Ahem! That’s all I’ve got to report.” He sits back down, moving beads in his abacus.

“Thank you,” I say. “But you haven’t told me your name yet.”

“Oh? Hmmm what were you asking, Majesty?”

“Your name.”

“Ah, I’m sorry, majesty. My name is Talbot Bookkeeper, I do numbers.”

“Nice to meet you Talbot, Jolla. I’ll be counting on you in the upcoming day.

Jolla gives me a courteous nod. But the elderly man doesn’t even look up, he is too absorbed in his abacus.

A loud fart disturbs the meeting. Ryon starts laughing like a madman. "Oua gang need some of da good noise!" he exclaims when he finally calms down. Salik snorts, while Zoe and Jolla gives Ryon a scandalous glare.

“Ahem…” I clear my throat, trying not to smile. “I was told that the army general’s had died. Salik here will serve as the general from now on.” I gesture to the old man who seems to be in his thirties. He gives me a sarcastic smirk and takes another gulp from his flask.

“Can anyone tell me why Jerro isn’t here?” I ask.

“He left.” The reply comes from Ryon, followed by another fart and barely contained giggles.

“Left?”

Another loud fart is my answer. Ryon burst into loud laughter. Once he calms down, he licks his lips and tilts his head in my direction. “Ye! Took your horse an’ left, rode after da Bert-bow guy, said to tell ya not to worry ‘bout him.”

Right… he probably saw something about Sharla… that’s just great… I hope she won’t die on me too… Why do I care? She lied to me and manipulated me and…

And I still consider her a friend… I don’t know why, but I do…

Ok, focus! Not the time to start worrying.

“Ok… So who’s the spymaster?” I look around at my advisors, Tasiya and Talbot in particular.

Tasiya had been managing the palace knowing the ins and outs of it. While visiting the town in order to help the poor. It’s a good way to acquire friends or informants amongst the people.

While Talbot… I don’t buy the act with the abacus, no one is ‘that’ absorbed in the things they like. And the best spies track people through money...

“We've got no spymaster, Your Majesty,” Tasiya says.

I raise an eyebrow. “Then how did the king hear I was in town when I got here? I know for a fact that there was a spy who reported my friends’ location to him.”

She gestures dismissingly as if she has no idea.

“Nah ah, every town and castle has its spider.” I shake my head. How do I get the spymaster to come out and serve me…Why isn’t he or she here to begin with…

Keeping their identity a secret I guess… makes sense… ok… “I know you’re out there webweaver. Either you’re sitting in this room, listening in on us. Or someone is doing the listening for you…” I give a meaningful look to the maids and guards near the door. “…I’ll need you to make a direct contact with me. You have until tomorrow night. No proxies. If you don’t come, I’ll start weaving my own webs, and by that time, you better be out of my city. No one wants an unfriendly spider in their house.” That ought to do it.

I look at the new faces, making sure my message is clear. “Very well, let’s get started. Who can tell me what’s this town’s imports and exports, what’s our tax income, what’s the tax percentage, who are the most influential people amongst the population…”

*~*~*

Interlude 81.1

Berthold.

I thought I could poison the King.
Inara, I’m coming for you.
You will be begging for the mercy I’ve given this foolish woman.
King Luard.

Berthold stares at the bloodied woman. A chill goes down his spine as the horrifying realization sets in. The fairy. Dead. Just like that. Just when he meets a fairy, she dies a terrible death. It’s all Inara’s fault. It’s all…

Berthold wipes a tear he never realized he shed.

The death cultist gets off the stallion. “It is safe, Sharlafyn.” He pats the dead woman’s cheek lightly, caressing it.

“Safe?!” Berthold rages. Death cults and their snaking worship! Of course a death worshiper considers death to be safe. “You call this safe?! This?!” He points at the mutilated woman.

“It is safe, Sharlafynwynyeslun.” Jerro ignores him and sings the long word, caressing the dead woman’s cheek.

Berthold can’t watch this. He draws his bow…

“Ahhhh… why ruin my fun, you weird human. And pir’madanonetauthaon! how do you know my full name?” The naked woman sighs and shifts back into her slender fairy form, an autumn leaves dress coats her skin. She’s still nailed to the post, but her hands and feet are intact. “Sunayaknash,” she addresses Berthold with an odd name, somehow he knows this is his name, it became his name back in that forest. “Be a deary and remove the cold iron, will you?” She gestures with her chin to the nails stuck in her wrists.

“How can you do magic?” Berthold asks with his eyes open wide. “Iron stops magic.”

The fairy giggles, and the birds sings louder with her. “Ah yes. Cold iron will stop the magic of a mortal. To the fae… let’s just say it only keeps us from moving around, it doesn’t stop our magic. Magic is like breathing to us, you can’t stop me from breathing by nailing me with cold iron, can you? I loved it. I put up quite the show!”

“Get her off that pole, hunter. She is hurting, despite what she says,” the death worshiper orders.

“Yes! Right away!” Berthold doesn't care about the death worshiper, but the fairy is hurting. He and the five scouts under him do their very best to dig out the iron nails from the fairy’s shins. After a few minutes she stretches by curling into a ball, then bends backward and touches her heels with her fingertips her, her body forming an odd arc. Her agility is clearly something no human is capable of.

She then stands straight and traces a hand with long fingers on Berthold’s hot cheek. “Now that’s irh’a. Sunayaknash, you’re such a treat.” She leans forward and kisses his cheek, her breath warm on Berthold's skin. Berthold’s heart skips a beat hearing her next words, whispering in his right ear. “Can I have your snake tonight? I’ve been hanging here for days, it’s been so lonely…”

“Seventeen hours,” Jerro states coldly. “Not days.”

“Yeah yeah, whatever, you weird human." The fairy rolls her unworldly eyes with a silvery flicker. She leans closer to Berthold's ear again. "Sunayaknash? My tent tonight? I’d love to taste you…”

Berthold’s cheeks are hot, his heart races. He wants this. Yet, this is wrong. Jerro clearly has eyes for this woman. But she’s free to make her own choices. He wants this. He had never been with a woman before. She’s a fairy! A real fairy! And she wants him! He needs this! Why should he care about the death cultist's feelings? If anything, annoying the guy is a good idea. "Ok..." He manages to mumble. Ok? Is that all he can say? Just ok?

The fairy giggles and drifts away, grazing her long fingers on his cheek as she turns around.

“We need to track the rival king,” Jerro states. “Our missions isn’t over.”

The fairy dances down the road, humming to herself.

“Did you hear me, Sharlafyn?”

“Yeah yeah, I heard you. Weird human, why do you ruin my fun all the time?”

Berthold shakes his head and blinks a few times. Only now he remembers that there are five more scouts under his command, all watching him with knowing smiles on their faces. Berthold ears flush; he’s never going to live this down.

*~*~*

Spells known:
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb.
Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison.

Focus capability: 13 patterns

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

Wealth: 1496 Magic Gems. 1421 Golden Peas, 17 Silver Scales, 12 Copper Bits.

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.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keeps the pouches’ content fresh.
Fresh rose petals, 25g
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. 11/100

Companions:
Kolag of house Befar
Salik
Zoe
Ryon

Languages:
Toml’a <People’s tongue> Fluent
Sinteo <Speech> Fluent
Myrsha <Gravity> 7/10
Felul <Wind> 1/10

Injuries and scars:

Kingdom’s treasury: 305 gems. 41,682 gold coins.

Kingdom’s citizen: 6,021 humans, 2,251 human children.

Notables at Court:
Tasiya Keyholder
Jolla SilverQuill
Talbot Bookkeeper

2023-05-20 17:29:50 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 81 in color

2023-05-20 17:29:03 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 80 colorless

Author notes:

This chapter is dedicated to Jessica Salmonson for supporting me on Patreon.

Thank you very much for your support! <3

Chapter 80 The Death of a Friend.

Even death leads to life.
A corpse will feed the earth.
The earth will nourish a plant.
The plant will sustain an animal.
And animals provide food for mortals in turn.

Brigit, the Keeper of Life.

I skip breakfast. I don’t want to risk poison and I’m not that hungry. An hour later I am at the city gates, a pair of guards wearing my father’s coat of arms at my side, my coat of arms now. I’m surprised by how swiftly they dyed these… They have a lot experience in switching their current ruler… never forget that!

The army of crows feasting on the dead is almost loud enough to wake them up again. The sight by the grieving families who search for their relatives amongst the dead. Mothers, widows, children, weeping loudly when they find their man torn to pieces within a field of flesh and gore. They collect the body parts onto carts, and head toward the oranges and lemons groveyards to plant a tree for their loved ones.

I join their group, getting Lezere toward the same groveyard north of the city. I can feel both awe and blame in the many eyes that follow me. I am an evil sorceress who brought misery to their lives and took away their loved ones. But I’m also a sorceress, an entity they consider closer to their god.

There is nothing I can do or say to make things better for them, so I ignore their gazes and march behind the cart that carries Lezere.

I look around when I reach the plantation. Kolag is supposed to be here. I sent someone to tell him to come here, but there is no sign of him.

“Owa what are you doing with my daughter, bitch?” I turn around when I hear the vaguely familiar voice. The tall muscular man has a dark skin and two rows of shark-like teeth, he wears a green traveler’s robes and a hand axe in his leathery belt.

“I apologize… I forgot Lezere had family nearby… I’m sorry for your loss…” Am I? She’s dead because of my ambitions…

He pats my shoulder in a fatherly manner. “Pha! Don’t be sorry. My bitch died for her chieftess. That’s the only death an orc could ask for.”

“I’m going to plant a tree for her. You’re welcome to join…”

“Orcs don’t let trees eat our dead, bitch. We hang the dead in our hall for a day, make sure eferyone witnessed they died in battle. Then eat them to inherit their strength. Their bones become tools and weapons, and we use their blood to write the story of their brafery on their skin.”

I don’t care if you’re an orc, you’re not eating my friend! Besides… “Lezere is half human.” But he’s her father…

He lets out a grunt. “Lezere is wolf! Her mother was sheep, but Lezere is a true wolf! She wouldn’t be happy to let a tree eat her.”

She did mention that… No! “You’re not eating her! To me, eating another mortal is a disgusting thing. As dishonorable as it gets. I can’t let you do that. I’m taking her to the groveyard!” Venom! I don’t care if you’re her father, she clearly didn’t like you. She’s my friend, and she’s part human! I’m planting a tree for her like a normal burial rite!

He snarls, his hand jumping to his axe. “Grrrrr! Choke on your fangs, you twisted shaman. Don’t think I don’t know the secret behind your power!”

“I’m not a hypocrite. I will never eat humans or any of the mortal races! I only use magical animals’ souls for my power. Believe what you like, I couldn’t care less. You’re not touching her. Try it and I’ll blow your head off and let a tree eat you too! Got it?” Why does it matter to me of all people? That’s what orcs are doing with their people, and he’s her father. I’m only against it because I, personally, don’t want to eat other mortals… the tree is just something we do… but why? It’s a decree from the gods, but I don’t even believe in the gods… it does prevent zombies and ghosts I guess…

He takes a step back, his sharp teeth still showing, but I can see the surprise in his eyes. He bows slowly. “I misspoke, you are a true shaman, from what my daughter had told me you are a wise shaman too. But you’re making a mistake, shaman. This is the way of our people for generations, this is how we livfe. If my tribe hears that you are a true shaman, they might fight for your cause. We lack a shaman currently. As long as you retain our right to pillage, I can pledge abofe a thousand adult orcs to fight your wars for you. But not if you let trees eat our wolvfes. Not if you let a tree eat my daughter!”

“I consider her a good friend. I know this goes against your cultural beliefs, but what you’re suggesting goes against mine…” He’s her father… it’s only right to let him have her body… I am only considering it because he’s promising me a small army of orcs! Why do I lie to myself? I don’t even believe in this dumb burial rites? The gods? Afterlife? Snake that rot! If he eats her, it prevents a zombie all the same.

And this is an opportunity… I can have a small army if I have him on my good side… Lezere is already dead, she doesn’t care about anything. And he might be right… Lezere acted like an orc, not a human, she might’ve wanted this… as twisted as it is this is what they’re doing with their dead, I can’t change that.

Yeah… I can’t fix the world with my life’s principles, and who’s to say my ideals are the correct ones? No! I’m not letting him eat my friend!

I should stop letting my heart make the decisions. When my heart made the decision and saved those women a few days ago, it got Lezere killed! Whether she’s buried under a tree or ends up in her father’s stomach won’t change a thing! She’s dead!

I need to go back to my apathy and get that army to serve me… an army who doesn’t worship sorcerers and sees them as ‘twisted shamans’ while willing to fight for me on virtue alone, now that could be useful. And I need to ensure security for the living… for myself… I could use some stability…

The orc clacks his teeth in annoyance when I ignore some of what he says, but I do catch the end of it. “…We seem to be at an impasse then.”

“You mentioned a right to pillage? What is that about?” I ask. I wonder what else is hidden in that bargain.

He flashes his sharp teeth for a brief moment. “Spoils of war. We take a third of the loot when you conquer a new land.”

“And if I do not conquer? What if I only need your people to defend my lands?”

He sniffs, wrinkling his nose into a sneer or the face one makes when he smells something foul. “Then a third of the spoils from the fallen army that might attack your land. Their weapons, armors, and the prisoners as our sheep too.”

“Inara! I can’t believe you’re even considering this!” Kolag’s echoing voice startles me.

I turn to face him. “How long were you standing there?”

I can hear the angry breaths behind his helmet. “Long enough. We’re not letting this savage eat Lezere!”

“Lezere is dead. Whether we bury her or let the culture of her people take its course, won’t bring her back. We need allies, our current state is very unstable. I haven’t solidified my rule yet, and it’s spring… easier to march an army. If I’m correct in my estimation, the nearest kingdoms will try and gain ground by striking while we’re unstable…”

Kolag moves closer, angrily stomping his metallic boots in the mud. “I’m not hearing any of it! We have an army, we can recruit and train more people. You asked me to stop you when you’re about to make a heartless mistake, and that’s what I’m doing. Stopping you! By Noxi, Lezere will be buried under a tree, let Nuriss and Tiyadi claim her soul!” He waves his claymore toward Balgrum, the sharp blade halting an inch from the orc's throat. “And you, sir orc. You’re going to leave our city, go back to your tribe, and never come back! Am I clear?”

Balgrum lets out another snarl. He gives me a hesitant look, and turns to leave.

Kolag gestures the pair of soldiers to carry Lezere into the open grave, he hands me the sapling to hold while he fills the hole with fresh dirt.

“Are you sure we did the right thing?” I ask quietly.

“Absolutely.” his reply is unwavering.

“How? How can you be so sure you’re doing the right thing?” How can anyone be so sure they’re doing the right thing?

“I follow the word and justice of Noxi.” he exclaims, still piling up dirt over my friend’s corpse.

Of course... the gods again... The gods didn't stop Lezere from dying, did they? I doubt any of them actually care about this shitty world... Probably just here for their twisted amusement... “And how can you be sure that the word of Noxi means justice? How can…”

“Noxi is the god of justice!” he interrupts me. “By Noxi’s holy light, do you even hear yourself?!”

“Not everyone worships Noxi,” I comment in a low voice.

He lets out an echoing grunt. “I’m aware. I still can’t understand how one chooses not to follow a god. But even without worshiping a god, you know that eating people is wrong.”

“But it is a part of the orcs’ religion too. Aren’t they following their bone cheiftess goddess by eating their fallen?”

“An evil goddess!”

“And? If your only argument is that it’s wrong because a god said so, then there’s nothing wrong with what they’re doing. Their goddess said so. Is eating people wrong based on what Noxi says? Or because it’s truly wrong? Does your morality stems from your choices, or from Noxi’s teaching? How does one decides what’s right and what’s wrong?”

He stops piling dirt over our friend's corpse, and leans on his shovel. “You’re just trying to complicate it because you stand to gain from this! Inara. This is Lezere! Lezere! Do you really want to trade her for a tribe of savages?!”

“No. I admit that I stand to gain from this. But this is the dead Lezere, not a living friend. I’d rather care for the living and secure their safety. If one corpse can save you or the others from death… for just having the chance of saving us all… I’d rather take it.”

He sighs. “I… I understand. But this is still wrong!”

“Why is it wrong? Orcs have probably been doing it for hundreds of years, right? One corpse won’t change that. You haven’t answered my question either. Where does your morality stems from, Kolag? How do you know you’re right? How do you know Noxi is right?”

He grunts and contemplates on my question for a long minute before finally answering. “Because you and I won’t be able to forgive ourselves for such an act. I will not be able to stand before the radiant lord of heaven while carrying such guilt in my heart.” He goes back to piling up dirt atop the corpse.

I can easily forgive myself for such an act. Lezere is dead… nothing will bring her back, and that’s her father who wants her corpse, not some random orc. Her father! He’s her family, we’re simply her friends… if anyone has a right to that body it’s him! The only reason he hadn’t attacked is because he’s scared of what I can do…

I take a deep breath. “Fine… I love you. We’re burying Lezere, this groveyard isn’t the place for a theological argument.”

“I agree.” He piles up the dirt with a low grumble, and I hold the sapling above her corpse. I hope he’ll say that he loves me too. But he doesn’t.

I chipped at his wall of faith, and his wall of faith is what kept him going, it's what kept him thinking he’s making the right choices. And now he can no longer see clearly. I made him think, made him doubt every choice he ever made.

For Kolag, justice is too important, being right is too important. He needs to know his actions are just, I can’t have him doubt himself like that… What about me? I care about the truth… No, I don’t! I care about power! I'm all about the snaking power! No… I just care about going back home to my family… and staying alive… keep my friends safe… Either way, I can’t have him doubt himself.

“Kolag?”

“Hrm?” He still piles dirt over Lezere’s body.

“It doesn’t matter which one of us is right about this. Whether Noxi’s intention for us mortals are good or not, doesn’t matter. His ideology, his justice, the things he advocates for, are definitely good for the mortal races. You don’t have to doubt yourself. The truth about this doesn’t matter, helping people selflessly the way you always do is what truly matters. Fighting for justice and protecting the innocent is always a good thing. Whether it’s in the name of Noxi, or stems from your inner conscience. If anything, your inner conscience is what aligns with the teaching of Noxi, not the other way around.”

He nods quietly, still piling dirt. It Gives me the feeling that no matter what I’m going to say it won’t help. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you, it truly doesn’t matter,” he says after a long moment. “But I still think you should find yourself a patron god to watch over your soul.”

“Let’s agree to disagree there,” I answer with a smile.

Lezere’s body is covered, and the sapling protrudes from the ground. It’ll be a tree one day, and people will eat its fruits as part of the circle of life. People will eat her no matter what… This is snowy venom… it’s all venom… why the hell does it matter if we’re buried under a tree or eaten… It does nothing for the dead! It’s all about us, the people who’re still alive. It brings us snaking closure. Stupid closure! It doesn’t bring me any closure! Dead is dead! Why did she have to die?!

“Here.” Kolag hands me the pewter flask Lezere used for her alcohol.

This is way better for my closure! I gulp down the alcohol, it burns my throat but I don’t care. “For Lezere.” I say in a low voice as I hand him the flask back.

Kolag inserts his straw and takes his sip. “For Lezere,” his voice echoes.

I take the flask back and insert in my belt. I'm going to keep this... “Goodbye…” There’s only the two of us left now…

I send Kolag back to the city, while I stay behind near Lezere’s tree. I send my guards to look for Balgrum and bring him to see me at the groveyard. The green-robed orc arrives with my mercenary guards. If you can’t carry this guilt Kolag, then I’ll carry this act on my own…

“I understand that your culture and beliefs are different. Lezere always acted more like an orc than a human, so I assume she grew around orcs and shared your beliefs.” I hand him the shovel “Take your daughter, replant the tree after, and make sure my armored friend never finds out.” He’s her father. This is the right thing to do… Then why do I feel so awful about it? I do it for power, not for doing the right thing… and I’m betraying Kolag…

It’s both… I do it both for power, and because it’s the right thing. This is what Lezere would’ve wanted. Kolag doesn’t get a say in this just because he believes in some religious babble! As Kolag said earlier, ‘who said doing the right thing can’t be enjoyable?’ And to that I say, ‘who says doing the right thing can’t bring me more safety and stability?’ And power! I’m all about the snaking power in the end, aren’t I?

My face twists into a grimace when I let the orc takes the shovel from my hand with his slight bow. “Thank you for this, shaman. You are wise. I may hafe disagreed with my daughter, but I can see why she called you grandchieftess.”

“Don’t thank me, I’ll be expecting the full support of your clan in the upcoming months… and if I don’t receive it, I’ll find you, kill you, and bury you under a tree.” I say as I leave toward the city without looking back.

“Orcs don’t break their word!” he calls out behind me, but I ignore it. Words are just words, this is simply an investment, and I have a city full of lives to take care of. If this ends up saving their lives and keeping me on the throne, then it’s worth it.

Whatever... I even believe my own lies now...

*~*~*

Interlude 80.1

Berthold.

This mage-king isn’t very good at hiding his tracks. For Berthold he’s very easy to track, too easy. Even with the heavy rain, the tracks are all over the place. The man’s servants didn’t even bother to bury the trash or hide their latrines.

It’s easy to stay a day behind them, Berthold could do it in his sleep. It’d be nicer to do it without this rotten death worshiper though.

Berthold glances over his shoulder. Jerro—the death cultist—rides Inara’s large horse. How that scrawny guy got this violent stallion to trust him is beyond Berthold’s understanding. Berthold had never seen such a warhorse in his life.

Berthold is good with animals, but that beast isn’t a friendly one. He’s only friendly when Inara is around, a real nightmare when she isn’t. That surprised Berthold at first, he was too used to seeing this stallion docile in camp. He tried to feed it an apple a day ago. Berthold’s leg still hurts from the nasty kick he got, and he was lucky he managed to mostly avoid the kick or his leg would’ve been broken.

A beautiful and dangerous horse, for a beautiful and dangerous girl. Berthold’s cheeks heat up and he wrinkles his nose, trying to shake the thought. He knows he doesn’t stand a chance, he can see how Inara looks at Kolag. Why do knights get all the good women? If Berthold wore an armor would he get a girl too? How can Kolag even see where he’s going with that stupid helmet?

An oddity attracts Berthold’s attention. A pole, with a naked woman lashed to it. Her feet and hands are gone, lopped messily off, the stumps left to bleed freely in the rain. Small iron nails glimmer against the bloodless white of flesh, affixing the body to the pole. A plank has been driven into her chest.

I thought I could poison the King.
Inara, I’m coming for you.
You will be begging for the mercy I’ve given to this foolish woman.
King Luard.

*~*~*

Spells known:
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb.
Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison.

Focus capability: 13 patterns

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

Wealth: 1496 Magic Gems. 1421 Golden Peas, 17 Silver Scales, 12 Copper Bits.

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.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keeps the pouches’ content fresh.
Fresh rose petals, 22g
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. 11/100

Companions:
Kolag of house Befar
Salik
Zoe
Ryon

Languages:
Toml’a <People’s tongue> Fluent
Sinteo <Speech> Fluent
Myrsha <Gravity> 7/10
Felul <Wind> 1/10

Injuries and scars:

2023-05-16 09:01:53 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 80 in color

2023-05-16 09:01:32 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 79 colorless

Author notes:

This chapter is dedicated to Europa for supporting me on patreon.
Thank you kindly for your support. <3

Chapter 79 A Queen.

A loss may seem like the end.
But it isn’t.
Life goes on,
the dead are forgotten,
and the living have their goals of happiness.

Lokamesh, Father of Mortal Kind.

Although I’m exhausted, I cannot calm down yet. I find myself in the king’s former quarters, a large room in the palace that could only fit a monarch. Blue velvet curtains drape around the bed, and a small mountain of white pillows stands on the bed itself.

Vivid colors cover the four walls in various painted murals.

The west wall portrays the victories of the king. They are right opposite of the bed in clear view of anyone who rests on it. I guess he liked looking at them. That does not make me feel any better about this man since half of these murals feature a man or a woman going under some form of humiliating torture.

The east wall presents an array of beautiful busty blond and red headed women right behind the large bed. Assuming they’re all dead… I can’t imagine how the new wife felt every time he picked one…

The breath-taking tumble of a wild waterfall adorns the south wall. Contrasting it on the north wall sweeps a cityscape mural, all manmade lines and ordered squares. A window has been worked into the city, giving the impression the authentic view beyond is a part of the painting itself.

I take a seat near the large desk and unpack my saddlebags, looking for my grimoire. I’ll ask to have the west and east murals scrapped as soon as possible…

The first thing I do in order to calm down my nerves, is research. I have to find the characteristics of Luard’s teleportation spell. This is simple enough with my grimoire.

I place my hand on an empty page. I need a water spell that lets me teleport and leaves an ice statue behind.

Tolste’s Icy Escape
Names: Tolste’s icy escape, icy escape, mocking ice.
Element: water
Sub element: ice
Level: 1
Words: Numakee numali nim, oue-rissu nirissu asuli fenu! rum ni rumnum! Riss ni rissgimo
Translation: Dear lovely water, here is a flect humble flower! Split me a clone! flow me away
Swift: Rinim rumnum (ice clone)
Patterns: 18
Gestures: right or left – middle finger touches thumb in a fist > middle finger perked out. (can be used in as a flipping gesture but doesn’t have to be.)
Offering: 15 bellflower petals/sharp fish tooth/5 fish scales
Requirement: a prepared pillar of ice capable of containing the caster within range.
Range: 1 kilometer.
Target: self.
Duration: 1 day/instant.*
Effect: the spell will teleport the caster to a prepared chunk of ice. The spell has to be prepared beforehand and the prepared ice chunk needs to be large enough to contain the caster's body. The prepared ice chunk won't last more than a day.
Once activated through its swift chant, it’ll leave behind an exact ice copy of the caster. Replacing the caster with the prepared chunk.
This faulty spell will not teleport any items the caster wears or any objects they might carry. It’ll Teleport the caster naked into a chunk of ice. The caster will have to dig themselves out from the ice.
Cost: 70 water gems, 5 gravity gems.
Bound cost: 40 water gems, 5 gravity gems.
Altered cost: 10 water gems, 1 gravity gems. Per alteration pattern.

This spell wouldn’t teleport anything the caster wear or carry. This why the king had to leave his clothes behind, which I burned. I wonder if he or Drusilla had any trinkets on them that I could’ve use… I bet the fire pretty much destroyed anything or at least rendered it useless… but it’s worth a look, I should go look through their bodies…

At least I have nothing to worry about… if the king wants to teleport into my palace and attack me in my sleep, he would have to sneak a large ice pillar into my rooms beforehand and be ready to fight me naked... this is a faulty, desperate escape spell… not something that can be used for offensive… but it can’t hurt to learn… if I have to go into a troublesome situation and can prepare an ice chunk beforehand it might just save my life…

There’s only one problem… patterns… the spell requires 18 patterns… I’m not capable of that yet. It’ll have to wait… I wonder why Luard was capable of casting an 18 patterns spell, but couldn't cast anything that wasn't a water spell...

I then take time to write down all the cantrips and spells I remember being used in the two magic battles I’ve experienced. I’ll need them written down in an attempt to learn at least some of them later.

I also note down the idea of princess’ Drusilla’s bronze needles. It was an ingenious use of ‘Repulse’. After all, as long as the object had some weight to it, 'Repulse' would affect it. And if the object was lighter, ‘Repulse’ would send it flying faster. I like the idea of hurling needles or daggers at my enemies, but I’ll need proper time and practice to master all of these cantrips. And now I have a city to manage.

With my worries about the king’s teleportation abilities put at ease, I pass out somehow. The sight of Lezere’s bodiless head haunts me in my sleep.

{28} Nuriss (March) the 3rd

“Good morning, Your Majesty!” The unfamiliar cheerful voice wakes me up from my restless sleep. A middle-aged woman opens the blue drapes, letting the sunlight wash the room with warmth. I flinch and scan her while my eyes get used to the light.

She looks like a housewife. Round, plain tanned face, brown eyes, and a lock of graying hair escapes from her white coif. She wears a gray and white maid uniform that fits her like a glove. I am surprised to see a black horse embroidery on her chest. My father’s crest, my crest now.

The woman claps twice and a line of younger maids enters the room. They carry wooden trays, each with a different hot meal on them. From fried eggs and bacon, various soups, meat pies, and even some mutton ribs. To lighter stuff, like three types of bread, four types of cheese, and over ten different salads. The smells alone are mouthwatering.

A pair of maids approach my bed, while a few others carry buckets of steaming water to the bathtub at the edge of the room.

I recognize one of the maids near my bed. Zoe, she gives me a flattering, expectant smile. Zoe and the other maid start taking off my travel clothes, the same ones I wore during the battle yesterday. I can’t remember how or when I fell asleep. A third maid brushes my hair, untying all the knots, including my thin crown braid that held it all together.

“Hey! Put that belt down!” I call out in alarm before one of them scurries away my belt pouch with the potions and rose petals. I can bear being naked, but not unarmed.

The teenaged maid jumps in alarm and puts my belt back on the chair. She stands there, shivering. She looks at me like she expects some form of punishment. All of the girls in my room freeze, looking at me with a mixture of fear and expectations.

I sigh. “It’s ok, I’m not blaming you for something you didn’t know. Just leave that belt alone.” One maid is enough for me to manage… now I have a small army of them… and they’re all scared to death… How did Lezere call them? Rabbits? Bunnies? She wasn’t wrong… Lezere… I wish I could see her again…

“What is this?” I ask, still delirious from my sleep, gesturing at the maids holding trays with food. I only need one maid! One! What are they all doing here anyway?!

“Breakfast, your majesty.” The cheerful answer comes from the middle-aged woman.

“I can’t eat all of that!” I exclaim wide-eyed, all while the maids take away my dirty clothes, leaving me naked near the bed.

“Your majesty, eat as much as you want, the girls and I will be happy to finish the rest. Would you like to eat here after or before the bath? Or would you prefer downstairs at the dining room?” The woman bows slightly and gestures at the steaming bath.

She stands by me as I enter the bath. The water temperature is just right. A maid offers to take care of my hair, and another pair stand by with hot and cold water in case I want to change the temperature. But I can’t relax in the crowded room.

Ok, calm down. Project confidence. It’s just like being back home again. A fief to manage, a bunch of servants and knights… only, there are ten maids serving me instead of one… that’s all… I better get used to this now… It’s nice to have servants again, it’s been a while. I never had so many of them to myself… it’s way too much! One or two maids are enough. No, relax… focus! Confidence! I’m a Queen now!

So… which one of these girls is still loyal to the king? I know he wasn’t nice to these people, but there are plenty of ways to ensure loyalty. I can’t assume they’ve all simply switched sides. The only person I can trust here is Zoe…

Damn… I don’t have time for games of intrigue today… I need to bury Lezere and plant her tree… I need to learn a few more spells… I also want to finish connecting my crown mana pool… Now I also need to manage this city… I wonder how many people live here… I hope it’s at least half of what the hag wanted me to have… hopefully all…

“What’s your name?” I ask, lifting my chin toward the middle-aged woman.

“Tasiya Keyholder, Your Majesty,” she answers with a curtsy that wouldn’t shame a natural-born noblewoman. “I make sure everything in this palace runs smoothly.”

It’s all about appearing confident, they don’t know what’s inside my head… I lean back in the bath pretending to be comfortable, side glancing at the overweight woman. “Why are you still here?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“King Luard fled, he took his household with him, what made you stay?” Your life depends on your answer… an icy spike will do…

She tenses up. “Ah, Your Majesty. I serve whoever rules the Red Cedar Palace, I have no interest in conflict. I served the king, I served the queen before him, the king before her, and the king before him. I worked here for over twenty five years. I only manage the day-to-day life at the palace, and I have no say in anything else. That’s the only way we common folk can keep our heads attached to our shoulders.”

I narrow my eyes at her. “And I should believe this is true because you told me so?”

She backs off slightly, the fear apparent in her brown eyes. “Ah, Your Majesty, please! Ask anyone in this town. I’m not lying to you. That would mean my death!”

“I can vouch for her honesty, Your Majesty.” Zoe steps forward. “She worked here in the palace since I was a child. She always brought leftovers from the palace to the poor folk in the slums…” Zoe hesitates for a split second. “To my parents too, when they’ve fallen on some hard times. Tasiya is a good honest woman, Your Majesty!”

I lean my head back and heave a sigh. I’m way too paranoid… No I’m not… This isn’t my palace, it belonged to my enemy yesterday. Basic caution is necessary if I don’t want to lose my life or lose another friend in here… But I can’t go around accusing people of plotting my murder either… I scared the rot out of that woman… out of all them… these people worship mages like minor gods… and are afraid of what they can do… of what I can do…

I sit up and look into the woman’s brown eyes. “I apologize, I jumped to conclusions I shouldn’t have without properly investigating first. I had… a rough night, and I lost a friend yesterday.”

The middle aged woman stands with her mouth agape for a very long time.

“I told you she was different!” Zoe chimes in. “She’s like the good sorcerers from the legends!”

The sudden praise covers my face with heat. I lean back, submerge my face under the water and sealing the outside world for a brief moment. By the five hells, I just apologized for suspecting the woman, I didn’t save their lives or anything! So what if I care about people’s feelings?! There are plenty of nobles who do!

They had that bastard Luard for the past two years… I’m the exact opposite… I can use that to earn their loyalty… Yet, I’m still sure that the palace has people who’re still loyal to the Luard… I’ll need to find them and dispose of them… but I can’t simply fire everyone…

And that food… if Luard has the loyalty of one of these maids, this food might be poisoned… I sit up again and move my gaze over the group of young women who still hold their trays. Different eye colors with various emotions return or avoid my gaze.

The most common one is awe. Two of the older ones see me as a cute little girl to be nurtured and adored, while a few others have fear and even hatred in their eyes.

“Ahem, your majesty, your apology is accepted of course.” Tasiya recovers from her daze. “You had every right to suspect my allegiance. But I assure you: As long as you remain the owner of this palace, I’ll serve you with all of my heart!”

“Thank you, Tasiya, I’ll trust you. I’ll eat in the dining room, you can send the girls downstairs. I want everyone to leave this room except for you and Zoe.”

Tasiya claps her hands twice. “You heard her majesty, off you go!” The girls leave the room, closing the doors behind them.

“Zoe, come closer.” The giddy girl leans closer for me to whisper in her ear. “Go to the door, open it, and slam it shut, fast.”

“What? Why?!” She wrinkles her nose at me.

“Just do it.”

She do as I ask. The shrieks and the loud giggles behind the door tells me that at least two of the girls have been trying to eavesdrop. It does not mean they’re spies, just curious young girls who wants to learn how much their lives are going to change from now on. Zoe smiles at me with satisfaction.

I nod at her. “Good, stay near the door, if you hear them get close again slam it again!”

“Yes, master!”

“Tasiya.” I turn to my Keyholder.

“Your Majesty?” The middle-aged woman doesn’t bother to hide the amused grin on her face.

“You know all of those women outside, correct?” I raise an eyebrow in her direction.

She nods.

“I want to know which one of them had been visited by Luard or one of his closest people.”

“Visited, Your Majesty?” Tasiya lifts a thin questioning eyebrow.

I roll my eyes. “Oh for the love of… do I have to say it?! You managed this palace for years, do you really want to tell me none of these young beautiful women outside had ever been snaked by the King or Prince Reynold? Or even Drusilla for that matter! Know about any guard who used to be sleeping with Drusilla?”

“Your Majesty…” the woman takes a deep breath. “The king only wanted to be with his wife, whoever that poor girl was at the time… But Prince Reynold… Your Majesty, what are you planning to do with those who have been accompanying Prince Reynold?”

“Send them home with a purse full of coin. It’s not their fault, but I can’t trust their loyalty either,” I reply without batting an eye.

Yes, I am aware that some of them were forced against their will. But I also know all too well how fiercely a maid can protect a master she’s pining for, especially if she’s carrying her master’s child. And if one of those maids outside is pregnant with Reynold’s baby, I can expect poison in my food and daggers at my back. She could also be aiming to assassinate Kolag who’s responsible for Reynold’s death.

“Then we should send all of those girls home, Your Majesty…” Tasiya’s voice is sad.

Right… never thought about that option… men are snaking venomous pigs! No, not really… it depends on the man in question I guess… there are many types of men… Not to mention Reynold was considered a powerful man here, and the opportunistic girls might’ve thrown themselves at him… I don’t have to worry about the opportunistic girls, those are the ones that change sides with the winds. I need to worry about the ones who are attached to him, the ones who’ll seek vengeance for his death.

“I didn’t realize… Tasiya, you know your girls best. Can you single out the ones who are in love with Reynold? Or those who carry his child? Send them home, give each of them fifty gold coins, ok?”

The woman nods slowly. “It’ll be done, Your Majesty, you are too kind.”

“Who else in the palace has the potential of holding a grudge and harming me or my friends?”

Tasiya shrugs. “No one that I can think of, Your Majesty. The army general who loved Princess Drusilla had died yesterday to that… demon, Your Majesty? I heard there was a demon…”

I nod silently.

She continues after clearing her throat. “king Luard wasn’t a pleasant man. I can’t imagine anyone here who harbors such feelings for him.”

I comb my wet hair. “What about others like you? People who are doing their job in the palace no matter who sits on the throne? Who are they? I need to know that ahead of time if I don’t want to repeat the mistake I made with you.”

“This includes nearly everyone who’s still working the palace grounds, Your Majesty. The servants, the chef, his food is amazing you won’t regret keeping him around. The librarian, though she prefers to be called the chronicler.” Tasiya’s voice is filled with distaste toward the name. “The treasurer, the man is mostly concerned with money and numbers. The lawmaker, he’s a peculiar sort, like to dress all fancy and associate with the rich people of this town… and the army’s general…” her voice turns sad. “As I said… he died, yesterday…”

“I’m sorry.”

“Oh don’t be, Your Majesty.” She gestured dismissingly. “He used to like me but then a sorceress showed an interest in him and he forgot I even existed…”

But you still pined for him… “I see, I’m sorry… I’m sure it wasn’t easy…”

“Life has a way of reminding you how hard they are from time to time, your majesty…” she replies with a smile.

“Are you also responsible for my daily schedule?” I ask.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“I’ll spend the morning burying my friend. Set a meeting with all of these people you mentioned at noon. I’ll meet the staff and introduce myself. Please notify my friends to be at this meeting too. Oh, and you don’t have to call your girls back in. I only need one maid, not ten.”

*~*~*

Spells known:
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb.
Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison.

Focus capability: 13 patterns

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

Wealth: 1496 Magic Gems. 1421 Golden Peas, 17 Silver Scales, 12 Copper Bits.

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.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keeps the pouches’ content fresh.
Fresh rose petals, 22g
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. 11/100

Companions:
Kolag of house Befar
Salik
Zoe
Jerro
Loyal
Ryon

Languages:
Toml’a <People’s tongue> Fluent
Sinteo <Speech> Fluent
Myrsha <Gravity> 7/10
Felul <Wind> 1/10

Injuries and scars:

2023-05-13 17:18:33 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 79 in color

2023-05-13 17:17:52 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 78 colorless

Author notes:

This chapter is dedicated to Deniz for supporting me on Patreon.

Thank you very much for your support! <3

Chapter 78 This Day of Terror.

Ohhh friendship!
The mother of connections!
The one behind every good deal!
Hold onto her.
But don’t let her cheat you out of your gold.

Kilako, the Golden Prince of Gains.

The demon doesn’t even slow down when it notices me; if anything, it charges at us faster and shifts its focus to me.

Venomous snakes!!! “Myrsha! Lu myrsha ni!” <gravity! Don’t pull me!> I call out in a panic. I weave a swift chant patterns into the ‘Weightless Body’ spell.

With a sharp drain of mana from my necklace and thick purple smoke from my belt – I kick the ground in order to float upward. The pattern strain of a swift cast leave me unable to cast ‘Breeze’ , but the kick is enough to lift me out of Kolag demon’s reach.

Below me, Jerro rides Loyal’s back. He charges toward the monstrous creature, holding nothing but his cane like an odd lance. He seems so small in comparison. This creature just massacred an entire army by itself, but Jerro keeps on charging. Loyal! No!!!

Jerro stabs his the edge of his cane into the creature’s large middle eye just before it’s about to pounce on the poor Lepp.

The demon lets out a joyful moan, a loud sigh, and a sound similar to human laughter, all three voices at the same time. The voices change, they rise to a high pitch of a feminine giggle and go back to a low masculine guffaw, independent of each other. Before finally fading back into Kolag.

The quarterstaff clatters on the ground. I catch a glimpse of Kolag’s pale face. His black hair. His gray eyes. And then Jerro gets off my horse and covers Kolag’s head with the black metallic helmet. Kolag collapses in a heap of metal.

The battle is over, and there is no sign of King Luard. I look around in alarm, maybe he decides to show himself now when the demon is no longer a threat. But after a long minute of alertness, I decide to drop my guard. Luard had escaped. I cannot avenge Lezere’s death. And many men had lost their lives for nothing on this day.

Nothing but my ambitions… is the hag’s gift worth so much to me? Can’t I wait ten years longer to become a full mage? How many lives am I willing to throw away for the sake of ten years?! But without this power, I can’t protect myself nor the lives I care about…

I’m killing the lives I care about! I got Lezere killed! No. The King got her killed… I’m not to blame here! I’ll find and kill him! Waiting ten years to become a mage means ten more years before I can go home and see Wulf again… he might die if I wait that long… I've already waited nearly ten years, I refuse to wait another ten. Besides, holing up in the middle of nowhere with a group prone to infighting without any goals in mind is a bad idea…

The soldiers who are still alive, surrender immediately. I can see the terror in their eyes, they will not forget this day. It seems like I’ve started my reign over this place using fear. I didn’t plan to do that, I aimed to be a benevolent ruler beloved by her people. Yet, I have no choice about it now, this terror will haunt them for the rest of their lives. They’ll tell their families, and the rumors will spread.

But this is also a good thing. If it becomes common knowledge that I own such a powerful weapon – one that can wipe out armies, other apprentices or ‘sorcerers’ in the area will avoid me. They’ll not look for trouble, which in turn, will give me time to develop this place.

I cancel my 'Weightless Body' spell. "Latsa ni." <Lift me.> I use the jump spell to land safely. “Kolag?” He doesn’t respond. “Answer me!”

“He’ll be okay,” Jerro says in a tired voice. “He needs some sleep, I’ll make sure he gets it. This is one of the best outcomes I’ve predicted,” he states coldly.

“Best outcomes?! Lezere died! She…”

“The brute wouldn’t be dead if the hunter had listened to my instructions. He did not. He refused to kill the spy due to his hatred of my Lord. If you wish to blame someone, blame the hunter. Or that half Marrid who killed the brute to sate his own bloodlust. Not me. Now go. Your newly acquired people need you to address them, wasn’t that the goal of this day?”

I sigh and nod. I hand the surprised Lepp the two gemstones I promised him. He did hit the target, even if it wasn’t in the way I wanted him to.

I leave Kolag in Jerro’s hands. Jerro proved he could be trusted by running forward with that spear. I will not doubt him again… Though it’d be better if he could’ve predicted Lezere’s death in time to prevent it… He did… Berthold didn’t listen… Then why didn't he tell me to stop Lezere from going with Salik?! Maybe it means that Salik would've died if Lezere didn't go with him? And if Salik died, I wouldn't have an army to support me and others would've died... Regardless... It means Jerro isn’t omniscient either…

I make my way toward the city’s gate and stop near Lezere’s headless body. I look around for the head, ignoring the cheers from the walls. I finally find it ten meters away from the body, covered in mud. My friend’s empty eyes stare into the cloudy morning skies, her face twisted in a snarl even under the dirty rag that blocks her mouth.

I crouch, close her brown eyes and hug her head. Why?! Why every time I finally manage to reunite with people I care about, they just die?! Why?! Why does everyone leave me alone??? A rock forms in my throat, and now the tears are flowing. I bring the severed head back to the body, attaching it back as if it’d fix things.

“Goodbye... Lezere…” Why can’t I tell her I’m sorry? Because I’m not… I’m not sorry! I won this city! The population here is at least half of what the hag wanted me to have… maybe more. Why did Lezere have to ruin the celebration and die?! Why?!

Why did you have to die Lezere?! Why did you have to leave me in such a stupid way?!

“All hail the Queen!”

“Hail! Hail! Hail!”

The city gates open with a loud cheer. I touch Lezere’s shoulders, still warm. I try to drain this warmth into me, to absorb it, to keep some of her to myself. But there’s nothing left for a cold bitch like me.

I get up, wipe my tears and step into the city. My city.

Salik awaits for me right behind the gates. “Welcome, My Queen.” He gives me a theatrical mocking bow and tips a straw hat he now wears in my direction. Where did he get that awful hat? That brings a half-smile to my face despite my grief. Good! I need something to smile about, I need to swallow those tears!

“Thanks, Salik!” I hug him, ignoring the cheering crowd. I need a hug. “You saved our collective hides just now!”

The tall man is surprised by my hug, but he regains his wits and pats my back. “I’m sure you and the boy would’ve managed…”

“Where did you get my father’s flag?”

“The Maven of Mysteries gave it to me, where else? She ordered me to use it as your banner.” He breaks the hug with the same sarcastic grin on his face.

Makes sense… “Can I ask you to take care of Lezere? I want to plant a tree for her…”

His smile disappears, and he nods in acknowledgment. “I’ll take care of it.”

“Actually, wait. I will plant a tree for her after I avenge her. The king escaped.” I hug myself, feeling the chill in the wind. “Get some scouts to find him! I want him dead!”

“Right away, Berthold…”

“No! Not Berthold! Send some people I don’t know!” I’m tired of getting my friends killed for my ambitions…

“My Queen… does the permission to speak freely still applies?” Salik asks, raising a thick eyebrow at me.

“Yes, it always applies. Never be afraid to speak your mind with me.”

He nods grimly. “We should send Berthold, the guy is the best scout I’ve seen in the last fifty years. Keeping him holed up in the city makes no sense. You’re grieving. You don’t want to see your people dead, and I get that, but if you keep them from doing their jobs you’ll be the one dying at the end…”

He’s right… I’m just tired… tired of seeing the people I care for die… I didn’t see Lezere for a year… and now barely two weeks together and she’s already dead… “You’re right… Berthold can go.”

“You have to understand that if a leader is to…”

I don’t need a snaking lecture right now! “I said Berthold can go!” And if he dies?

“Eh? Ah, yeah ahem… ok, good…” Salik coughs and turns to speak with our short scout.

“Found a way to da’ palace!” Ryon announces, taking Salik’s place.

I don’t need it anymore… but: “Good work Ryon!” I can’t help but sniff.

“Don’ need your words! Gimme food! I’m hungry!”

I take a deep breath and force myself to smile. “Sure.” I pat his shoulder in a friendly manner. nice to see some things never change… “Ryon, can you teach me how to fight larger people like you do?” I need every advantage I can get…

“Ye! After ah eat!”

“My Queen.” Zoe performs a curtsy with a bright smile on her face.

“Yes?” You gambled on the right horse, and you know it. What are your goals now?

“Should I show you to your palace?”

Ah right, bootlicking… I really dislike this girl… Why? Because she’s opportunistic? Is she opportunistic? She joined me as a thank you for saving her and her sister and to learn magic… she’s not a bad person… and am I not opportunistic myself?

No, the reason I dislike her is that I don’t want to like her, liking people is bad for me… they always die… she’s done nothing wrong… it’s all me…

“Not yet, Zoe. Salik!” the man raises his head and Berthold gets closer as well. “Assign some of your men to the prisoners outside, recruit those who wish to serve us, and send home those who do not. I also want to know which one of them participated in Luard's atrocities, but I'd rather find out after we get full control over this city. Get the rest of your men ready to clear the palace with me. I want to make sure the king didn’t leave me a present there, or worse, waiting there for me.”

“Right away!” Salik leaves to give orders to the mercenary army.

“Um… Inara? Can I still call you that?” Berthold asks when Salik leaves.

I wish he had listened to Jerro… I’ll need to rectify that… Calm him down first, it won’t be of any use to scare him further. “Of course you can. As far as I’m concerned nothing's changed. So stop shaking in your boots every time I glance in your direction, Berthold. Frankly, it’s getting on my nerves. Can you please go back to boasting your wild ventures and talking about fairies?”

He stares at me with a gaping mouth.

I push his chin up, closing his mouth. “You’ll swallow a fly like that. Speak.”

He averts his eyes taking a step back from my hand, his cheeks burning red. Did he take it as a romantic gesture?! This guy is hopeless… “Ahem… yeah, well, can you tell me where you last saw the king? I need a starting point in order to track him.”

“We have a bit of a problem there, he teleported using magic. I have no clue where. I can only assume he teleported to the palace, but he could be anywhere.”

“I... I can’t create miracles Ina… My Queen. If I don’t have a starting point to track him from, I can’t help.”

That does make sense… “Very well… I’ll point you at the starting point when I find it.” He nods, turning to leave. “Oh, Berthold?” I call out. He halts, looking at me with expectation. “If you call me My Queen again, I’ll have to order your execution!”

I can’t help but snicker seeing the horror on his face. “Relax, ok? You have nothing to worry about, I’m good to my people. I practically threw myself out against an army earlier for a friend, and I consider you a friend too… so, please? Stop being so afraid of me? I’ll go down and beg you on my knees in front of all of these people if I have to.”

“I… I…” He stutters. I drop to one knee and his eyes open wide. “There’s no need for that. I get it, ok?! You won’t hurt me, I know that. I’ll stop, I promise!”

“Good boy~” I pat his cheek and grins when he blushes. It’s quite enjoyable seeing the effect I have on him. It makes me feel oddly good, even if I am not truly interested in him romantically. Toying with him is harmless, and I need the distraction right now.

“Now… There’s something I need you to promise me, Berthold.”

“Y-yes?”

I sigh. “Berthold… the next time Jerro tell you to kill someone, you kill them. Are we clear?”

“Even if they’re innocent?” he asks, defiance in his voice.

I cross my hands. “If Jerro tells you that people of our group will die if you don’t kill that person? Then yes, even if they’re innocent.”

“And if I refuse?” He’s trembling, I’m not sure whether it’s fear or anger. Maybe both.

“Then people I care about die. I’d rather have an innocent blood on my hands than watch one of you die again, Berthold. This could also be you who ends up dead, how would your mother and sister feel? Do you think the hag will heal your sister if you're dead? Jerro’s prediction are accurate, and if it gives us an early warning, we should use it. I can’t watch any of you die again.”

Berthold steps forward, fists clenched, sheer rage etched on his face. "With all due respect, that innocent blood would be on my hands, not yours. If people die, they die. I know how it is to lose a friend. But I won't kill for the death cultist. I'll never kill for the death cultists! They're the ones who cursed my mother and sister, and you expect me to listen to one of them?! Do you really believe your friend died just because I wouldn't kill a bunch of random people?! Are you that crazy? Death cultists can't predict the future, it's impossible to know what will happen. The only way I'm going to kill someone not in self defense, is if you threatens me to kill them. Are you going to kill me if I refuse to listen to your death cultist? Yes, or no?"

I sigh. I can't do this anymore... "No. I won't kill you if you don't listen to my orders or Jerro's..."

He doesn’t answer, he just turns and leave me on my own. Great… I feel like crying again…

An hour later I am assured the king isn’t hiding in the palace nor is the palace trapped. The place is crowded with servants and maids, but there is no sign of the king’s personal aids, and even his new wife cannot be found.

After interrogating the staff I find out that the king had indeed teleported back to the palace. He collected his loyal personnel, his new wife, and left from the northern gate while we were still busy at the south.

Another hour passes and Berthold leaves the city, following the king’s tracks with five mercenary scouts. Their orders are to observe and report where the king is going, not to engage. The fact that the king took Sharla with him gives me hope and fear in equal measures. With Sharla being around him I can keep track of his actions, if Berthold makes contact with her of course... But she’s still in the company of my now sworn enemy.

I probably shouldn’t worry too much. Sharla is a competent spy. Especially since Jerro hadn’t said a word about the fact she got taken away. Yet the king’s teleportation ability scares me. If the guy could teleport into my chambers any time he wanted, he could attack me in my sleep.

Even if I could beat him in a fight again, and that’s a big if, He could simply teleport away and I’ll have to start all over again. I have to find a sure way to kill him without risking another confrontation, and Sharla is my main hope for achieving that…

*~*~*

Interlude 78.1

Shar-La-Fyn-Wyn-Yeslun <White-Near-River-Dew-Thorn> / <Sharlafyn Nettledew.>

“Wife! Are you alright? I know it may have been hard to leave your city and family. But I promise you, we’ll be back and we’ll take what’s ours!” The Fae’s Blood former King examines her with worry in his blue glowing eyes.

“I… I… I want to go back!” Sharla mimics the average human woman in this situation. Pity and love floods from this man, the love is meaningless. But the pity? Ohhh Sharla can’t get enough of it.

The Fae’s-Blood makes her look into his blue glowing eyes. “We will go back, wife, I promise! It just going to take me a little time. I’m a sorcerer. Do you have faith in me?”

“I… Y-yes?”

“Do you have faith in me or not, wife? You do not have to lie, I only seek the truth. We are newly wed, it is ok if you do not have faith in me yet.” For someone of these methods of executions and cruelty, this Fae’s-Blood is surprisingly caring to a human-woman he only met yesterday.

Sharla had seen stranger things before, and even monsters have a soft side to them. “N… I don’t know? There was another sorceress, what if she wins?”

The Fae’s-blood grits his teeth and Sharla can hear them grind against each other. “It won’t happen again! She took me by surprise with that monstrosity, whatever fae that thing was. But when I come back, I’ll come back prepared. I do not make the same mistake twice. Now let’s go to bed.”

“Y-yes sir!”

“Husband, you call me husband.” He caresses Sharla's cheek and she can feel the pity flooding her. Ahhhhhh this is just what she needed, she can live off this for weeks! More!

“Y-yes, husband!”

More pity floods in. “Let’s go to sleep, wife. The tent may be uncomfortable, and I won’t force my presence on you until you feel like you are ready to accept me in your bed. Is that acceptable?”

“Y-yes, husband! T-thank you, husband!”

“There’s no need to thank me. You can ask me for anything you want! Anything in the world and I’ll give it to you. You are my Queen. Now let’s sleep…”

A few hours later. Sharla is convinced everyone around the camp is already asleep. She turns invisible and gets out of her tent. Sharla saw a few Rotvine Berries downriver. Foraging them and coming back takes another hour, but the night is still young.

Sharla sneaks into the former king’s tent, fully invisible. His clothes and items are neatly organized in the corner, and his personal flask rests near the metallic folding bed in case he’ll be thirsty at night.

Still invisible, Sharla squeezes the Rotvine berries juice into the waterskin.

“Wife? What exactly are you doing?” The former king sits on the bed, glowing blue eyes staring directly at her.

Sharla heart misses a beat, but she pretends not to hear him, she is invisible after all.

“Wife! I asked what in the gods’ name do you think you’re doing!!!” He yells, getting off the bed, an icy fog surrounding him.

“You can see me?” Sharla asks with astonishment. This shouldn’t be possible, not many can see past her invisibility. These glowing eyes… blue… this former king must be a Cacu-Mherrid <Half-Marrid> Of course someone from the Court of the Dijin can see through her invisibility.

“Yes! You’re right there! Clearly poisoning my water. Do you think I don’t know what those berries are? Have I been cruel to you? Do you want vengeance for taking you away from your family? Is that it? Are you that petty?” He shakes his head. “No… a normal girl wouldn’t be this stupid, you’re a spy of Queen Inara aren’t you?”

Pir’-Ma-Dan-On-Et-Tautha-On! <By the monarch-s and court-s!> How did he jump to this conclusion?!

“N-No sir. I just wanted to t-test if y-you’re truly a sorcerer!”

“You’re not fooling me! Now I’m going to nail you to a road post and leave a warm message for dear Queen Inara! And just in case you have some little magic or potion. I’m going to use iron nails, I keep them for special occasions...”

A piece of lore

Swift chant/Quicken alteration patterns: For 5 patterns a 1st level may be used a shorter – cantrip length chant. A 2nd level spell will need 10 patterns, and so on.

Silent cast falls under this same category, they need 2 patterns and only apply to cantrips alone.

*~*~*

Spells known:
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb.
Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison.

Focus capability: 13 patterns

Social status: Inara, Daughter of Mysteries. Apprentice to the Maven of Mysteries. Sorceress.

Wealth: 1496 Magic Gems. 1421 Golden Peas, 17 Silver Scales, 12 Copper Bits.

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.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keeps the pouches’ content fresh.
Fresh rose petals, 25g
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. 10/100

Companions:
Salik
Berthold
Zoe
Ryon

Languages:
Toml’a <People’s tongue> Fluent
Sinteo <Speech> Fluent
Myrsha <Gravity> 7/10
Felul <Wind> 1/10

Injuries and scars:

2023-05-09 13:37:53 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 78 in color

2023-05-09 13:37:11 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 77 colorless

Author notes:

This chapter is dedicated to mallix for supporting me on patreon.

Thank you so much for your patronship! <3

Chapter 77 The Battle for Red Cedar City.

My lovely dear children, you are so precious.
Keep squashing each other for joy!
Bring everyone to their knees for pride!
Squeeze the name of every being for knowledge!
Let existence burn in hell, and drown in the abyss.
There’s nothing your mother wouldn’t do for you…

Rakisha, Mother of all Demons.

“Kill these fools!” the king orders.

“NO!!!” Kolag’s echoing cry thunders across the open field. “You monsters! You evil beings! By Noxi I’ll kill you all! I will bring Noxi’s justice into you! I will…”

YoU Are a dead man! Enough with the pointless rage! Apathy… Focus! A rain of crossbow bolts flies toward us, I don’t have the luxury of screaming death threats or crying right now. “Myrsha samir!” <Gravity protects!> My not so trusty red bubble flickers into existence.

Kolag forgets everything I told him earlier. Instead of standing behind me and my magical defense, he jumps in front of me to protect me from the incoming rain. Arrows cling on his armor like a rain on a rock. Despite his efforts, many of the bolts make it through. The mass of crossbow bolts slows down when they hit my barrier enough for me to react with: “Felul!” <wind!> the breeze blows the slowed crossbow bolts away from us.

What now? I can barely keep myself alive. How are we supposed to help the others?! Doesn’t matter. Focus on staying alive! The man in blue stands over Lezere’s body with a mocking grin on his face. He steps on my friend’s corpse, spits on her, flips me a middle finger, and gestures at us to come at him. The blond woman behind him is laughing, her shrill voice loud enough to be sound over the field.

“Loose!” the King yells in his magical voice, and another hail of arrows makes its way toward us.

“Myrsah samir!” <Gravity protects!> “Felul!” <Wind!> and another six gems of mana are spent. I can probably do it for a while but I’ll still have to deal with that disgusting man and his harpy… And what happens when my mana run out, I doubt they’ll run out of arrows before I run out of mana. I can’t fight an army by myself! What the hell was Jerro expecting me to do?!

“Loose! Fill them with your arrows!”

The king shouts excitingly and another hail rains down upon us.

“Myrsha samir! Felul!” <Gravity protects!> <Wind!>

“let’s retreat!” I say to Kolag.

"""""Charge!"""""

A chorus of voices bellows from within the city, a chaotic and violent cacophony breaks the sky. Metal hits metal with clings and screeches, screams resound, shouts split the air, and loud curses punctuate the fighting. The King turns back and bolts toward the city, his soldiers make way in a hurry, still trying to reload their crossbows.

The city’s wooden gates close from within, right in the face of the dumbfounded king. His soldiers get thrown off the wall. I hear their terrified screams before they heat the hard ground below.

The new army on the wall cheers and waves a flag, a black horse on a red field.

House Vodit’s flag, that’s my father’s crest, how on Lukam did… Of course… Salik… he already gathered his mercenaries… no, my mercenaries. But how did he get that flag? I’ll have to ask him later…

My mercenaries fire their arrows from the walls right into the army below them, and absolute chaos ensues. The morale of the king’s army topples over like goblins without a queen; their homes are behind them, behind these thick wooden walls. The hag was right by calling Salik a general… one move and the tides of this battle had turned…

An icy shield forms and blocks an arrow from hitting the King. I spot—who I assume to be Berthold—on the wall, far to the left, out of sight from Luard's vision. How did Luard block that?! Great... now he'll blast the gates open with his magic. I need to apply some pressure on him and distract him. And attack a whole army?! One crossbow bolt hit me, and I'm done.

“Charge!”

This magically amplified order comes from the king. He points at Kolag and me. I gasp. I expected him to bypass the walls or gates with his magic, but he and his men reach the obvious conclusion: There are only two of us, spell caster or not, I cannot stop a few hundred men by myself, and they have two spell casters with them to counter me and my spells. And if he kills me he can take care of the others later.

The battered army charges right at us, fleeing from the biting arrows at their backs. They lift their shields to cover their heads to protect themselves from the rain of arrows and crossbow bolts.

Kolag puts his hand in front of me. “Step back. Go back. Run! I’ll handle this!”

“Don’t die!”

“I won’t die. I promise! Not to this!” He steps forward and stabs his claymore into the ground. “Make my sword touch me if I don’t recover by myself!” he shouts and removes his helmet.

I know what he’s about to do and get my distance. As I run away, I glance back behind my shoulder. For a brief moment, I see Kolag's short black hair. And then…

His neck thins and elongates upward, it turns thinner than any possible human neck. His head splits into multiple tentacles that grow out of his collar, squirming and wriggling in the air. There are multiple eyes on these tentacles but none of them look at me.

I can see the panic on the faces of the charging men, but they keep on charging. It’s too late to hold their charge when they’re only a few meters from Kolag.

“̵̧̛̰̖͔̥͓̮̖̗͌̏̉̏̋̕G̴̩̹͓̞̹͎̀̾̑̏̂̆͗͐́͂̕ǎ̴̦̮͚̙̪̟̜’̷̧̥̼̝̣̙͚̲͕̌͒̎̚͜Â̵̮̓͐͐͜͠u̴̗̞̩̫̫͈̳̎͛̅͐́ͅȘ̸̡̞̬̜̘̗̤̒̆͜ḥ̸̛̈́̈́́͌̍̈́K̴̨͔̙̲̠̳̬͎̬̙̝̖͈̃̏͋̀̊ͅå̷̮̥ ̴̡̨͚̠̤̳͔̟̥̩̺̘̬̅̀̿̓̀͑͛̏͜Ḳ̶̞͎̼͛̔͐̃͆̔͊̌͒̏̕̚ä̷̙̱̀̅̈̈́̈́̚Ş̷̛̱̗̭̻̰̗̳̗̼͆̿̏͐͜h̶̭̳͔̹̱̪͌̓̇͝͝A̶̯̭͙̿̋̐͋͊̀̌͛̅̓͌̈́̇͠͠ͅḻ̷̳͓̰̀̏̏͜Ą̴̧̪̠̱̭͎̙̳̘͓̥͖͔͍̂͛̿̇̋́̅͝s̶̨͔̹͙̣̳̤̱̬̻̝̼̤̐̉͗̾͜͜͠F̸̛͚͐̔̓̄͘̕͜ȋ̴͇̣͗̓̏͂̑̈́̃̇̕ ̶̛̱̰̼͍̝̩̾͊̒́̒̅̑̀͒̃̈̚̕m̵͔̮̘̄͘Ä̴̺̘͎̱̘̬̗̦̱̙́̎̄̐ṛ̵̨̟̫̥̼͖̜̺̱͙͇̺́̄̓́͗͒̒̑̚ͅ ̵̤̜̘̃̑̑̀̓̚̚͘ͅM̵̛̗̈͒́̿́͆͊̍̈̎̈́̽̄͠a̵͚͚̙͖̘̗͕̰̼̯̞̖̎̾̐̔͗̀͑̎̉̀͘͝Ṛ̸̨̝͔͔̝͖̍̍͂́́̇̔̚͠͠!̷̣̭̲̠̹̰̝͈̬̝̥͙̫̄͒̈́̓́̾̈̈́̀̚͘͜͠”̶̢̝̖̲͓̰̪͙͘

The high pitched inhuman voice that comes out of the creature makes me gasp in fear. I run taking as much distance as I possibly can from the creature Kolag had turned into.

“̷̺͎̤̻̭̱̗͇̘͙̏̂̽̾̈̓͆̉̂͌̐͘ͅͅK̵̢̮̫̯͖̙̞̬̝̿̈́̋͑A̸̢̧̜̭͙̐Ȑ̸͓̞͛͆̑̇̊͜Ì̸̧̢̻̟̙̙̬̬̠̻̘̣͊̌̒̌̈́̔̚͝ͅḞ̸̳͚͔̟͙̐̉̍̀̊͗̇͌̉̂̎͠F̴̮͚̘̙̣͎̭̻͑!̶͙̪̘̼̻̘̤͍̓̿̃̓̌͒̅͠!̶̼͔̼̖̘̺̩̎̏̄̒̕ͅ!̶̡̡̨̝͔̠̹̭̗̪̾̌̍́̎͌͂͘̚͠”̷̨̺̹͙͎̃̓͆͆̈̎̌

Kolag’s demon declares with a much deeper pitch to its voice.

The sounds that follow make me turn back and gape in horror at the sight.

The forefront of the charging men—at least fifty men—drop to their knees, kneeling on all fours. While the men behind them stumble on their brethren, creating an even bigger chaos.

Why the snake are they all kneeling?!

The creature enters the kneeling masses, letting out excited screams and moans.

“̶̧̧̛͖̜͚̽͂̽͐͊̔͂̈́̊̓̑̚͝͠ͅK̴̪̬̫͇̹̠̦̣̣̥͈̞͕̏̅̈́́̃̋̍ą̵̛͇̹̠͍̠̓́̉̔͑͌̀̈̔̿̒̚͝Ş̸̞̠̲͈̪̺̝̱̺̬͔̂̊͌̾̔̓̂͑̋̽̀͘͝͝͠h̸̢̠̜̭̥͕̩̦̘̜͉̰̪́̈̽̄̈́̈́͐͋͜ͅĄ̴̡̧̧̲̬̝̻͋́̈́̒͋̊̅̓̐̐̔͆ͅl̵̡̦̣̭̺̞̳̖̼̰̭̉̈́͑̅̂̈́̊̕͘Ả̸̛̠̿͊͆̂̍̑̃̌s̷͉̯̅̅́̽̆̐̈͆͗̆̀̀̊̇̕F̵̧̝͈̲͔̜͌͗̍̀͒̃̌̊͗̄̆͘͜͜i̴̧̫̻̞̱̹̘̹̠̥̟͗̏̐́̍̉̔̑ͅ!̷̣̰̖͗͗̃̎̂̑͐̕͠ ̷̳̠̲̘̋̎̓̓̂k̵̡̺̗͖̺̘̟̙̘̟͚͓͇̬̯͑̋̄̇̐́̍͌Å̴̡̧̗͈̘̻̻͎̭͕̗̂͆̈́́͌͜͝͝ͅs̷͈̭̥̅H̸̠͈̘͉̰͎͖̖̯̠͈͍͈̲͐̒̊ͅą̷̼͕͜͝ͅL̷̡̧͈͕͔̪̜̜̜̖͙̥̲͉̈́͘a̸̼͒̐̾̀̔̀̋͌́̈́͘S̸̮͉̫̩̩͇͓͓̼̩̅̓̿̀̊́̏͐̈́̈͘ͅf̶̗̘͎̮̑̓̈́̂̇̊̿͝Ǐ̴̛̗̽̆̒̒̔̉̅͌̈́̏̆̃!̴̢̛̞̞̺̖̰͚̠͓̼̖̓̀̀̈́̉͊͑̂̄̐ ̸͎̞̪̯͇͚̠̝͆M̴̨̧̠̳̥̼̫̬͙̭̯̖͚͔̈́̐̓̽͗͗̅̔̇͐͐̽͠ͅa̶̢̭̰̠̫͇͙͙͋͐̄̿̿͛͒́̏̔̆’̶̱̹̬̮͔̳̝̇̓̚A̶͍͔͊̓̓̈́̊̐̃͌̄̂͑͘͘a̸̧̗͖̦͕͆̔̉̇́̐̾͜Ȁ̸̧̛̍̈̿̑͊̽̉̂̓́͘̕a̴̟͍̖͈͔̫͕̺̓͘À̵̘̰̻̝͖͚͓͎̱͙̝r̴͉͊̈!̴̦̽̐̔̽̈́̃̈̋̂̏̏͛͜͝!̶̛̲̗͉̺͖͕͉̤͊̀́̎̓́̇̂̌͗̚͝!̸͈̺͕͔͖̔̇̑̄̿̓̽̉̄̎̇͋̓̒̂!̷̧̨̰͕̳̲̱̪̺̙̬̊̑̈̿͊̄͜͠”̵̧̬͕̭͉̋̐̊̑͗̊̽̔

With this unclear reverberating scream, the eyed tentacles wrap themselves around the men the demon passes by. The tentacles stretch the men and tear them apart by their limbs as if they’re nothing but wet rags, followed by splashing gore and horrified cries.

I spot the king shoving forward the soldiers in front of him as he backs off in fear. Another hail of arrows rains down on his army from behind, causing even more deaths.

The demon doesn’t seem to care about those that escape, it moves between the paralyzed kneeling men slowly, ripping them to shreds one by one. This eldritch abyssal creature takes its time tormenting and toying with each kneeling man, savoring each act of death, all while letting out weird reverberating screams in its strange language.

The king circles around his battered kneeling army, running west toward the woods. A small group of his remaining men follow suit.

Oh no you don’t! I’m not letting you get away with this you bastard! I’m killing you here and now! For Lezere!

I intercept them, circling the demon from my side.

I am thirty meters away from the king’s group when Drusilla notices me and warns them. The king turns and a spear of ice flies toward me, followed by a hail of thick bronze needles from Drusilla’s hand.

“Myrsha samir!” <Gravity protects!> This isn’t very different from arrows.

The needles and the spears slow down, passing through my barrier. The icy spear grows spikes inside my barrier, all launching themselves toward me.

“Ritsa!” <Repulse!> I shout in a panic, weaving patterns for most of the icy shards, but a few still manage to graze and fly past me leaving burning scratches on my cheek, waist, and neck. Ok… not like arrows!

“Fotyr folo!” <fire fly!> I duplicate the spell, and form three fiery bolts. I send send the fireflies hurling at the king’s general direction.

A wall of ice at the height of a human appears in front of the king, and my spell leaves three small melting spots on it. I keep running forward. I’m not letting you get away with this you venomous snake! YOU ARE DEAD!

Apathy… focus!

“Nimuwal nimgafir!” the king calls out, and the icy wall turns into a watery wave. The wave rushes toward me at a rapid pace.

“Ritsa!” <Repulse> That’s Drusilla using the cantrip I am so familiar with. The water gets blown toward me, it spills around, flooding the ground between me and my opponents.

“Rial aluwe ri!” <Cold surface stop!> I call out, channeling most of my water mana into one of the rare five patterns cantrips. The water turns into a solid icy surface before it reaches me, I wince as a few shards of ice from the water drops freeze midair and hit me.

The king could probably freeze me solid in the same manner if I had let the water reach me. I also want to intimidate him with this move, and make him think I have more water mana than I do. That I can control water just as well as he can, aside from other elements.

“Ri riss shanim.” <Ice flow vapors.> I hear him behind a new wall of ice. Fog rises from the frozen ground, turning the battlefield into his misty dominion.

“Felul!” <Wind!> my amplified wind cantrip disperses the fog with ease, blowing the mist in his direction howling against his newly constructed icy wall, and drowning all of the noise in the process.

I don’t try to wrestle control over the icy wall. I know that even if I draw mana from my necklace, I would never be able to compete with someone who has a true high affinity to water by using water alone. But I can use other elements, I don’t know why these two stayed with a single element while being capable of first level spells… but I don’t care, I have to use every advantage I can get.

“Myrsha, nia tsaf lah! Lu myrsha nik kull lah! Nik wuan nalahi myrsha!”

<Gravity, I command you! Do not pull her onto you! She is free from your reign!>

This chant comes in a feminine voice behind the icy wall. I recognize Drusilla’s spell with a grin, ‘Alino’s Weightless Body’, my makeshift flying spell. Except Drusilla is using the targeted version of that spell. A purple speck of light circles me, and my weight shifts to zero. This spell cannot be blocked. If the caster is in range, there’s nothing that can stop it, nothing but iron or glass carried by the target that is.

Thanks for the help lady! Felul! <Wind!> I cast a silent breeze cantrip. If I wasn’t used to the weightless feeling, she might’ve caught me by surprise. But this is a spell I trained and used on myself on a daily basis.

Luard gets from behind his defenses, middle finger pointed at me. "Nim. Aloki nimue, ri rinim ni numuwal!" <water. ___ ___, stop ice ___ ____>

A white beam shoots out from his middle finger, but he obviously did not anticipate the speed of my flying.

I figure the two of them meant to catch me off guard with Drusilla’s spell, and once I float helplessly in the air, Luard would hit me with his white ray spell.

Instead, I use the wind at my back to propel me forward. In less than a single second, I fly above the white ray and right above the icy wall they both use as a cover. “Folo fotyr!” <Flying fire!> my fiery breath turns into a cone of roaring flames as I passed right above their heads.

Luard manages to react in the last second. “Rinim rumnum!” <ice _____!> he shouts. A dressed icy statue raising a middle finger remains where the King stood a split second ago. The statue is covered in a bluish smoke, and my flames eat the clothes and melt it slowly. The sorceress however, isn’t so lucky.

“Myrsha samir!” <Gravity protects!> The familiar red barrier flickers around the middle-aged woman, but the flames go right through her shield. She makes the same mistake I’ve made the other day. This barrier is capable of slowing down physical objects. Not energy. Not fire.

She lights up like a human torch, the shrill voice that laughed at Lezere's demise, now used for screaming. She drops to the ground and rolls in the mud, desperately trying to put the fire out of her dress and hair. “Please! I will follow you!” she cries between shrieks.

The weightless spell is cut off, and I stumble as I land on the ground near her. Please?! Where was please when you kilLed Lezere?! YoU wEre laugHing! LaugH noW! “Kushjak!” <Oil!> I channel some of the mana in my necklace into my earth mana-pool, and summon a thick spray of black oil, feeding the hungry flames. Focus! I turn my head rapidly, looking around in an attempt to locate the king.

The fire intensifies, cracking blue flashy flames for a brief moment before turning orange again. The burning woman yelps and rolls around violently, she tries rolling toward me but I simply walk back and keep spraying her with oil. Her wails pierce my ears, then her voice becomes unclear and dies out when she loses her life or lungs. I don’t care which.

The familiar odor of burnt flesh brings unpleasant memories about my time back at the Tower. I let the oil spell patterns fizzle and look around in alarm, still looking for the King. But even now, a whole minute later, there is no sign of king Luard. His soldiers kneel before me, their weapons are thrown on the ground. They do not plan to give me any trouble.

“Please spare us, Your Grace!” One of the soldiers kneels in front of me. “We have families. Children. We’ll obey you. We’ll do anything for you, Your Grace! Just spare us!”

I ignore him and keep looking around for the king. He couldn’t have gotten far, even if it’s a swift first-level spell using a larger offering for a shorter incantation, there is no way he could’ve moved too far. Where is he?! I have to be on my guard! He can be anywhere! I eye the group of kneeling soldiers maybe he’s hiding between them. The ground, the sky, and all sides.

After three long minutes of hearing the demon within Kolag massacring the army behind me in a series of inhuman moans that mixes with the terrorized soldiers’ screams, I figure that king Luard simply doesn’t plan to show himself, he is probably too cautious or scared.

Or waits for me to drop my guard…

I turn to the kneeling men. “I accept your surrender. From now on you’re my men, and you follow my orders!”

“Yes, Your Holy Grace!”

“Rise!”

I pretend to drop my guard, maybe the king will attack once he sees I’m relaxing. But even after two minutes of pretending to speak with the guards and accepting their surrender, Luard doesn’t make a move. While the demon-Kolag goes on a rampage, toying and torturing soldiers before ripping them to shreds. Even my mercenaries on the wall stop firing into the king’s army and simply watch in horror from atop the relative safety of the walls.

I need to stop this! These men could be serving me. I don’t need them dead. How do I stop that thing?!

Kolag with the elongated head is nearly three meters tall, the head itself has six yellow eyes with slit pupils, a large eye is placed in the middle and the other five are orderly fixed around it. The creature doesn’t have a mouth or a nose. I wonder how it makes these noises or speaks, but I’ll probably never figure that out. The eyed tentacles keep ripping people apart, while the creature makes loud remarks in an inhuman voice. By the tone alone, it sounds as if the creature itself is afraid for its life. Its voice raises up to a high, panicked, feminine pitch, and goes down to a deep, somber masculine bellow.

I can’t approach this thing, it’ll rip me to shreds… Kolag loves me, he won’t hurt me… Yes but that’s not Kolag over there… that’s something else, Kolag would never forgive himself if he accidentally killed me… Oh! Kolag said to make sure his sword touches him…

“Which one of you men is best at throwing spears or javelins?”

“That’ll be me, Your Grace!” A tanned young man steps forward.

“Please, come with me… the rest of you wait here until this is over.” They seem to relax after receiving my orders, as if they expected me to order them to fight that monstrosity. “What’s your name?” I ask the brown-eyed man who follows me toward Kolag’s claymore.

“Lepp, Lepp Strongarm, Your Grace,” he answers, eyeing the demon who massacres his brethren with a grimace.

“Good. See that demon, Lepp? That’s my friend.” The black-haired soldier shudders at my words, I notice a wet patch on his crotch. “Focus, Lepp! I need my friend to come back to his senses and stop killing people! See this sword?” I tap the hilt of the claymore. Not a weapon I’d even try to lift, even if it wasn’t made out of iron or some sort of steel alloy.

We’re about twenty meters away from the spot where the demon massacres an entire army one by one as if they are nothing more than sheep in a pen. These men don’t even move or try to run, they’re all just kneeling.

The young man nods repeatedly. “I need you to throw this at the demon. It must hit it. If this sword doesn’t hit the demon, we’re all going to die… I can’t stop him once he lost his senses, only his sword can do that. Do you think you can hit him?”

He nods again, faster this time.

It’s time to offer him the carrot. “Good! Get this done, and I’ll reward you with two sorcerer’s stones.”

Lepp swallows his saliva, his throat bulging. He lifts Kolag’s great sword like an odd javelin, aims with a shaking thumb, and throws the sword at the three meters tall creature.

The weapon makes a wide arc in the air and hit the back of Kolag’s armor with a loud clang.

The creature turns sharply.

“̶̭̻̻́̓̽Ḵ̴̜̟̲̗̖̝̜̲̙̘̇̀̀̈̎̃̐̃̔́͑̓͘ä̵̻͊̇̈́̓͆̓̽̈́̀̃̆̆̕͜͝S̸̡̢͍̱̮̩̘̳͇͈͓͎̳̳̍̇͊̐̀̓͝͝ͅȟ̵̢͙̠͚̼̪̞͙̺̰̈́͗́̅̒̏̌͋̏̉͘͝͠ͅͅÂ̸̛̖̽̑l̶̡͕͉͂Ã̶̢̛͇̳̤͖͈̔͗̉͝s̷̮̘̼̈́̉̇͆̆̾̇͘̕͜͠F̷̮̱̞̟̣̦̿̋̈́͂͑̋͝͠͠ỉ̵̜̫̼̭̟̘̦̻̉͌̃͑́̄͝!̸̢̧̱̮͛”̴̢̨̗͂̄̇̾̈́̃̌͗̎͠

It charges toward us, nine eyed tentacles swinging wildly in the air.

*~*~*

Spells known:
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb.
Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison.

Focus capability: 13 patterns

Social status: Inara, Daughter of Mysteries. Apprentice to the Maven of Mysteries. Sorceress.

Wealth: 1498 Magic Gems. 1421 Golden Peas, 17 Silver Scales, 12 Copper Bits.

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.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keeps the pouches’ content fresh.
Fresh rose petals, 22g
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. 10/100

Companions:
Kolag of house Befar
Jerro

Languages:
Toml’a <People’s tongue> Fluent
Sinteo <Speech> Fluent
Myrsha <Gravity> 7/10
Felul <Wind> 1/10

Injuries and scars:

2023-05-06 17:11:38 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 77 in color

2023-05-06 17:11:13 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 76 colorless

Author notes:

This chapter is dedicated to Alyssa for supporting me on Patreon.

Thank you very much for your support! <3

Chapter 76 No Longer Alone.

If you depend on others for happiness
what will you do when you find yourself alone?
If you depend on yourself for happiness
how will you find meaning in your life?

Tonisha, Lady of Ventures.

We’re out in the rain again, in the middle of the woods. I keep worrying about the people I left back in the city, and I attempt to distract myself with the fact that I’m camping with Kolag alone in the woods. That said, having Jerro here with his cold pair of brown eyes, ruins the romantic notion.

At least the food is good, Kolag is the one cooking after all. An hour of awkward silent passes, and Jerro retires to bed. I can finally be alone with Kolag. He sits near the fire, his visor focused on the flames, not acknowledging my presence.

I place my hand on his shoulder, heart thumping. “Are you alright?” I ask in Toml’a.

“Hrmmm…”

“If you’d rather be alone say so. Otherwise, I thought we could use the opportunity we have together without the others’ pestering gaze and patronizing comments if you know what I mean…”

He chuckles and opens his hand for me to get comfortable on his lap. “I keep wondering whether or not you’re right about mages. Whether they’re victims, being forced onto this path of evil. Or monsters who embrace it…”

“That talk again? Well… I guess it depends on the person? Mages are people. Some people have a good heart, others do not.”

“I’ve seen more than two mages by now, Inara… by Noxi’s heavenly light! Even your name. I can’t even remember your name because of a hells be damned mage! All the mages I’ve seen were evil. All of them. Not a single one was a good person! Will you become like that too? How long before the arcane corrupts you too?” His hands tighten around me, crushing me against the armor.

“You’re hurting me…” I manage to squeeze out.

“I’m sorry!” He lets me go awkwardly.

“I know why the arcane corrupts. I discovered the big secret…” I mumble.

“Go on.”

“I… it won’t corrupt me, you don’t have to worry.”

“I want to know. I need to know. If only to know what to watch out for, if only to stop that… corruption from touching you.” His visor is focused on my eyes, I can even see the glimmer of his eyes through the thin long metallic furrow.

I sigh. “Mages need to consume souls in order to get stronger. At some point, they even need souls as a basic food necessity. In order to eat a soul, you have to eat the flesh of the one it belonged to…”

He growls.

“What I told you a few days ago, that I ate humans… I wasn’t making that up. I didn’t know at the time what I was eating, I was just given food… but…”

I can hear his strained breath, but he doesn’t say anything.

“Anyway… there’s another way. It’s possible to consume the souls of magical beasts and monsters instead. Or the fae… Not many mages do it, because the mortal races are an easier food source for them. This is why the arcane corrupts.”

He doesn’t respond, only an echo of a breath from his helmet.

I shift, putting my head on the metallic pauldron. It’s not the most comfortable pillow, but it’s the only way I can feel close to him. I continue with a sigh. “I went hunting for magical animals instead, and I know at least about one more mage who does the same. He’s one of the hag’s children… I mean, apprentices… And he’s way stronger than Rushmia or most mages I’ve met except the hag. So. Not all mages are that evil… the good ones are just extremely rare… Kynator… I mean that mage guy… he called us white mages.”

“I see… I would’ve liked to meet him.”

“Maybe I will arrange a meeting between you two after we get back to Axero. But I have to finish my trials here…”

He exhales loudly. “Thanks for telling me. It makes me feel a lot better about killing that scum! It also helps me understand the teaching of Noxi better… Inara, why do you not have a god to follow?”

“I guess that’s how I was brought up… both of my parents told me to never worship a god no matter what happens. It’s the only thing I have left of my mother. That promise. I can barely even remember her face now…”

His hand moves slowly on my back. “But your brother worships Kilako and Tiyadi.”

“We have different mothers. His mother also worshiped Kilako.”

“I… I see…” He stutters an echo. “Would you like to learn more about the gods?”

Seriously?! “No.”

His hand on my back stops. “Why not?”

“Because I’m not interested in the gods. I already told you. I promised my mother I won’t ever worship one. But even without that promise, I don’t care about the gods. The gods never lifted a finger when I was enslaved. When I was groveling and begging the slavers for some food… or other things… the gods never lifted a finger for us in the Sapphire Tower, the gods…”

He holds my shoulders and makes me look into his visor. “But we’re here together, aren’t we? If not the gods, who got us here together?”

“Why does it have to be the gods who control the fate of people? It can be blind luck too... Or in this case the hag, my master, who manipulated you and me into this. She might as well be a goddess, she’s the strongest mage I know...” a cruel evil goddess with her full focus on me… “…We don’t know how the universe works, and to assume we know based on the word of some priest is nothing but sheer arrogance.”

“But the priests and paladins can hear their gods.” He points at Jerro’s tent. “I’m sure even Jerro can hear Tiyadi’s whispers. You can ask him tomorrow.”

“Or they’re all saying that they can hear their gods in order to con people… maybe it’s some secret of the respective churches.”

He turns me to look at his visor, I catch a glimpse of his eyes behind the cold metal. “Did you know that there are priests that have power? Real power. Different than mages, but just as strong. Chosen of the gods like Jerro. I’ve met one of them once as a child. A radiant of Noxi, his power was real. It came from Noxi himself. You don’t need the arcane to become powerful, you just need to believe!”

I cross my hands. “Or maybe that cleric you admire had been secretly using arcane magic? There’s a whole school of light magic, how do you know he wasn’t using it? Maybe he was born with some innate talent?”

“So they’re all lying?!”

I shrug. “I don’t know. It’s a theory. Or they do get power from their gods. I won’t know until I check it with my own eyes and mana. But I digress. I’d prefer to think for myself, rather than have the morality laws of a god that doesn’t care for me enforced on my own thoughts and ideals. I don’t have to believe in a god to be a good person, surely you know that.”

“Of course.” His voice softens and he lowers his gaze. “I’m worried about your soul… about what happens after we die… we’ll be separated…”

“Kolag… souls? Souls get eaten by mages, remember?” I don’t hide the bitterness in my voice. “What if the gods eat souls too? What if the gods consume the souls of their believers? Now that we know mages eat souls to get power, it’s not so far-fetched, is it?”

“I refuse to believe that!” His shout echoes in his helmet.

“That’s not a very logical argument,” I comment dryly. “It’s simply an emotional denial.”

“I can understand if a goddess like Rakisha consumes souls. She demands a human sacrifice from her believers. But a god like Noxi?! A god who advocates justice, truth, and protection for the weak?! What would he gain for advocating such values?” He stands up and pushes me off his lap.
He crosses his hands on his metallic chest and looks into the fire. “Won’t it be better if Noxi simply asked for a sacrifice like Rakisha does?! He’s a god. He can do anything he wants. And many fanatic believers will happily deliver him the sacrifice. Maybe not of innocents, but why doesn’t he demand for monsters and sinners to be executed on his altars for their souls?! His believers would happily sacrifice goblins on his altars. What you’re suggesting doesn’t make any sense!”

I remain seated, looking up at him. “I don’t know. I don’t know what makes the gods tick. They’re gods! That’s why I refuse to worship things I don’t understand. I also don’t believe I’d be important enough to earn their protection. I’d much rather develop my own power and learn how to protect myself, instead of trusting in some kind of ambiguous whimsical god to watch over me…”

“You can do both. I’m doing both.”

“But you don’t know if that was your doing or your god’s, right?” I stand up and face him, hands folded on my chest, mirroring his gesture. “If your god cared about you so much, why hasn’t he rid you of that demon inside you?! Why does he have you stuck inside that armor for two years?! Is it because of your god that I can’t even see your face?! How is it different from the hag who prevents you from remembering my name?!”

He opens his hands with a sigh. “That’s a trial for me! It’s…”

“A trial?! What kind of sadistic trial is that?! You know who puts me on trials that brought nothing but pain, suffering, and death to me and others?! The hag! That evil mage who wiped my name from your memory. She puts me through these so called ‘trials!’ I had to kill innocent people or die just to prove my loyalty! I went through fucking torture just to learn that names are important and should be kept secret! Don’t you talk to me about trials! Fuck!!!” Fuck! We were supposed to spend the night together! Not have this dumb talk about some stupid gods! “I’m going to bed. Good night!”

“Inara!” I can hear the metal creaking behind me as he chases after me.

“What?!”

“I’m sorry… I didn’t know…”

Fuck!!! Ugh! It’s not like I was perfectly nice either… talking about his demon like that… that was a low blow… I sigh and turn, holding my elbows instead of crossing my hands. “I’m sorry too… I shouldn’t have talked about your demon like that.”

“It’s ok. I can understand how you think… and I… I suppose it’s up to our upbringing after all… the beliefs each of us get consolidated as children.” He lets out a mirthless chuckle. “Who knows what the truth really is, maybe the gods don’t even exist… but I need to believe that they do, that there are good gods that care for us… I suppose I need to strive toward something good, toward some goodness… I can’t believe the world is all evil.”

“Yeah, I don’t think the gods don’t exist… just that they’re too powerful to care about little insignificant beings like us as nothing more than tools. You said it yourself, power corrupts. And the gods… the gods are all power, so they should also be corrupted.” Why am I bringing this up again? “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t continue this debate. You clearly think differently…”

“No, it’s alright. But if you’re using my argument against me, I’ll use your argument against you. You said that it’s all about the person, didn’t you? That there are good mages out there. What if there are good gods too? Ones that care even about the little folk? Ones that even care for ants or plants? You can’t deny it as a possibility, right?”

He’s right… it’s possible… It’s nice having someone to talk to who can keep an argument with me… damn… I’ve been alone for way too long… I love having him around again… even if we don’t agree on everything… I’m no longer alone!

“True. That’s not something I can deny… Kolag… can we… can I sleep with you tonight?”

He chokes behind his helmet and clears his throat. “Ahem… hmm… uh ahem… you know I can’t remove the armor.”

“Not like that, bucket head! Just sleep. I’ve been on my own for way too long.”

“I don’t think my armor makes for a comfortable pillow… but I can’t say no to that.”

“Thank you…”

{28} Nuriss (March) the 2nd

“Your followers are in danger!” Jerro wakes us up the next morning. He shakes both me and Kolag, invading our privacy. “We must make haste!”

“I told you we should’ve attacked them yesterday!” Kolag jumps to his feet before I even realize what’s going on.

“You would’ve died yesterday,” Jerro replies, his voice void of any emotion. “Inara was short of mana, and the king was prepared for us. He did not expect us to leave as swiftly as we have. That’s why he’s retaliating today.”

We skip breakfast and head back toward the city in a hurry. We are still in the woods when we hear a thundering voice, clearly magically amplified.

“Sorceress Inara! You have an hour to show yourself in my city’s gates or your orc girl dies!”

My heart drums with the echoes, and a few birds take off in fright. He’s got Lezere!!! “Jerro?”

“The brute dies, you cannot save her. But if you don’t go to the city gates, the old man, the rogue, and the hunter die too.”

The reply I get from him sends a chill down my spine. This is the first time he predicts a certain death for someone. A certain death I cannot prevent. Not Lezere! Not Lezere! I can’t lose her! Apathy, she’s mortal, she can die… it shouldn’t change a thing… It’s Lezere! Jerro have been wrong before!

I’m not going there. That’s a certain trap… But if there’s even the slightest chance that it’ll save Lezere and the others… I shouldn’t have listened to Jerro yesterday… that placed them in jeopardy… Kolag was right, we should’ve attacked the king right there and then.

No, Jerro is right. I was almost out of mana yesterday, I could not face another battle counting only on my gems, and those cramps had me twitching way too much… What now? Should I walk into this certain death trap based on what Jerro says? What if he’s wrong?

“Let’s go, Inara! We’re not leaving them to die!” Kolag grabs my hand and steps forward.

It’s that simple for him… Whether Jerro’s predictions are accurate or not, this is an obvious trap. The king has no reason to release Lezere or any other of his hostages only because I showed up! And even if I do surrender, he has no reason to keep them alive after he has me.

Yet I cannot stop Kolag and I find myself joining his stride instead. I can’t abandon them, my apathy isn’t strong enough. I’ve been lonely for a long time, and now that I have company again, foolish or not, I don’t want my friends to die.

We step out of the forest into the open. The wooden wall of the city is crowded with soldiers carrying crossbows, and they are amassed at the wall’s foot as well, at least four hundred soldiers.

A couple stands infront of the small army. A young tanned man in regal blue clothing. The small crown rests on his dark shoulder-length hair, silvery metal reflecting the sunlight.

A middle-aged thin woman in a purple velvet dress stands by the King’s side. Her blond hair is tied up in a tight bun.

I spot Lezere kneeling at their feet, but no sign of the others.

Lezere! So many crossbows…

“If they fire those crossbows stay behind me, I can defend you from arrows,” I whisper to Kolag as we advanced. At least this is something my defensive magic is good for. Not like they can pierce his armor… but why take the risk?

“Ah… Sorceress Inara, It’s hard to believe you’re an apprentice from the Sapphire Tower. Didn’t your master teach you that pawns are merely pawns to be sacrificed?”

Mockery fills king Luard’s amplified voice. I can see Lezere struggling, but she’s bound well and can’t release herself. Even her mouth is covered, and knowing her, she probably tried to bite her captors.

“I’m here as you asked! Let her go!” I call out as we get closer.

“Oh no. Not so soon. If you want her released then come here and kneel before me.”

The King demands. While the woman in purple—which I assume to be Drusilla—laughs. Her a high pitched mockery gives a surreal echo in the silent field.

“I’m not that stupid, Luard! Nothing stops you from killing her once I kneel!”

“Then you better kneel.”

He demands in his magically amplified voice.

“Not without assurances that she’ll live,” I shout back. “Let her run to the forest and I’ll kneel.”

Luard gestures for his soldiers, they push Lezere to the ground and stretch her hand. The king picks an axe from one of his soldiers and chops Lezere’s hand off at the wrist. Her scream is muffled by a cloth on her face.

No!

Focus! Calm down… hands can be regrown…

“Strip down and kneel before me, or I’ll keep chopping her off like the pork she is!”

The king calls out in my direction, followed by the high pitched laughter of Drusilla.

“I’m not that stupid! Ask for something reasonable!”

“I can’t stand by!” Kolag echoes angrily and strides forward.

“That’s an army you’re marching into, Kolag… let’s stall…”

“She’s being tortured!” he protests as the king chops off Lezere's left hand.

“So what will it be, Inara? Bare naked on your knees, or do I keep chopping her up? Make your choice. Chop chop!”

“Ask for something reasonable and I’ll comply! Keep harming her and I will kill you!” I shout back.

Drusilla laughs. This time the king joins her laughter and presses the axe against Lezere’s throat.

“Last chance! Take off your clothes, kneel before me, lick my boots, and I’ll let her live…”

All for my pride? It’s not about pride… he’ll just kill me if I kneel… or worse… enslave me… There’s nothing I can do. Coming here was a mistake, there’s nothing to be gained. I step forward slowly. I’m not taking off my clothes! And I’m not kneeling! I’m getting close so I can attack him! Yes…

I unbutton my dress slowly.

“Run faster for your little piggy, Inara! If you aren’t here within a minute, she dies!”

Kolag bolts forward pulling my hand with him. But he doesn’t have to. I’m running forward on my own, he’s just taller and faster than me. We reach twenty meters away from the army when the King looks me in the eyes with a victorious smile, he then chops Lezere’s head with his axe. The King kicks the head toward me with a maniacal laughter.

The world stops. I can only feel my pulse thumping loudly in my head. I can only smell and taste blood. I can only hear Luard’s mocking laughter. I can only see the blue eyed King holding the bloody axe up high. And my friend’s head rolling toward me on the ground, her handless and headless body under that monster’s boot.

I wilL kiLl yoU for tHis!

*~*~*

Spells known:
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb.
Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison.

Focus capability: 12 patterns

Social status: Inara, Daughter of Mysteries. Apprentice to the Maven of Mysteries. Sorceress.

Wealth: 1498 Magic Gems. 1421 Golden Peas, 17 Silver Scales, 12 Copper Bits.

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.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keeps the pouches’ content fresh.
Fresh rose petals, 22g
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. 10/100

Companions:
Kolag of house Befar
Jerro

Languages:
Toml’a <People’s tongue> Fluent
Sinteo <Speech> Fluent
Myrsha <Gravity> 7/10
Felul <Wind> 1/10

Injuries and scars: I wilL kiLl yoU for tHis!

2023-05-02 09:16:28 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 76 in color

2023-05-02 09:16:10 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 75 colorless

Author notes:

This chapter is dedicated to CeldurEylin for supporting me on Patreon.

Thank you so much for your support! <3

On another note. I have a funny point about a "dark souls roll" in a sword fight in this chapter.

Chapter 75 Magical battle.

Worship the forces of creation.
Bow to the powers of worlds’ birth.
We are all nothing but a mere spark of life
in the vast ocean of reality.

Jalier, Master of the Elements.

The intruder is an overweight man, but he’s not obese. The small pair of brown eyes on his chubby face narrow with his priestly smile. He moves his hand in his short graying beard.

“I believe we have business…” I say loud enough to be heard, and the whispers around the inn die in an instant. The deathly silence gives me goosebumps.

“Ho ho. You’re the new sorceress! His Grace Prince Reynold, at your disposal.” The priestly man gives me a curt bow. While the crowd follows with the murmurs: “May the thirteen watch over His Grace.”

“Inara,” I say dryly without a curtsy. I’m surprised by the following murmurs from the crowd. “May the thirteen watch over Her Grace.” Are these people for real?! They really don’t know we’re about to fight each other to death?! Or they do, and simply want to support both sides in order to stay alive… that makes more sense…

“Inara, then…” his kind expression changes into a deep frown. “The language of Myrsha. You are not an exile, are you? You’re here on a trial from the tower.”

Let’s try and buy some time… “That’s correct. But I’m not interested in you or the king you serve. I am merely passing through. Your king’s hunt for a wife had forced me to dispose of those rotten guards…”

He mutters something under his breath that sounds like a curse in a foreign language. “I understand. I’m sorry to put you in this situation, but I have orders I can’t refuse. If I still ruled this city, I’d let you go, but alas. I bring a message from His Majesty, the King. Submit and become a princess under his rule. Or die. These are your choices, you have twenty-four hours to respond.” great… I just told him I don’t want to fight… I just admitted I’m weak enough to be blackmailed…

The man takes a few steps backward before I realize he’s planning to leave. He simply wouldn’t turn his back to me. Smart. He dies here, or my friends will die!

My heart thumps loudly in my chest as I silently weave fire patterns, drawing flame from the fireplace. Fotyr folo! <Firefly!> a bolt of fire shoots out from the crackling wood at our side, heading toward the flank of the chubby man.

He ducks. The crowd behind him screams in excitement. This man is more agile than I expect from an overweight middle-aged man. A yellowish fog comes out of his robes as he calls out. “Reviss! Kas shoarr oarofisia!” <energy! feed ____ ___!>

A swift 1st level spell! “Myrsha samir!” <gravity protects!> I shout.

Pure electricity jumps out of the man’s hands. I scream when his lightning travels through my barrier. My body shakes violently, and the world turns white. I lose my ability to think or move as the electricity courses through me.

The pain is relieved when Kolag steps between me and the enemy sorcerer. Kolag’s large claymore attracts most of the channeled electricity, flashes of white sparks travel around the armor along with a yellowish speck of light that circles my armored boyfriend. Only now I can breathe and realize that my trusty red barrier can only slow down physical objects. Not energy. Not lightning.

My hair puffs out and smoke rises from my dress, I keep seeing afterimages of the flash. The people watching all around us boo. This is supposed to be a duel, and Kolag’s interference disappoints them.

“Revisor, volni to atarisor! Soriler!” <light, ___ __ __! ___!> The electricity coming out of the enemy's fingertips stops, but the man keeps chanting.

Like I’ll let you chant another 1st level spell, you bastard! “Hod myrsha!" <Earth pull!>

With a puff of yellow smoke; there are six versions of the enemy sorcerer. Each runs in a different direction. Upstairs, to the windows, toward the door. And my formed mana patterns pass through an illusion that blurs and turns into yellowish dust.

The adrenaline pumps in my veins. “Latsa” <Lift> I lift five bronze butter knives with ‘Minor Telekinesis’ and “Ritsa!” <Repulse!>

My knives hit all of the illusions at once, and only a single one out of the remaining five stumbles when the bronze butter knife clatters to the ground. I wish I had real daggers to throw… The real prince is on his way to the stairs that leads toward the inn’s second floor, while the rest of the illusions blurs and crumble into yellowish dust.

“Snakes in a jar!” the middle-aged man swears. “Revisor ak!” <Light strong! > Everything turns white.

I shut my eyes in order not to be blinded by the strong light. “Myrsha Samir!” <Gravity protects!>

Still blinded, I panic. It takes a short while for me to regain my vision. This defensive spell is a battle instinct for me, but it proves useless in my battle with this man. I have to stop relying on this spell for defense and learn some new ones that are meant to stop energy attacks.

When the bright light dies down and my vision turns to normal, I spot the white robed man halfway toward the doorway, he only wants to escape. I give chase. I can’t let him leave! There’s no way I’d catch him outside with his illusion magic.

I hope the crowd of people will slow him down, but these people open their ranks making way for him. They don’t want any trouble. For them, we are simply a show or a natural disaster. Maybe a mix of both?

“Hod myrsha!” <Earth pull!> The weight under him triples, and the Prince falls forward. “Rod’ena!” <Vines!> I wrap him in vines to stop him from getting back to his feet.

Kolag bolts forward, he charges past me, waving his claymore.

“Atakesh!” Reynold shouts. A mass of dark fog appears around the white-robed sorcerer, swallowing Kolag. I can tell something cuts off my vines, but I have no idea what’s going on in this darkness. A few feminine screams erupt from the crowds. I can’t tell if these are screams of excitement or fear. We’re really just a show to these people! Are they not afraid of dying?! Kolag… I hope he’s not dying on me…

“Revissor” <Light> I send a ball of light forward into the dark fog, and the darkness slowly disperses by my light. Kolag swings widely at the Prince who just stood up.

The white robed man rolls forward in a dodge that I wouldn’t expect from an overweight man of his age, but Kolag kicks him mid roll and the sorcerer finds himself on his back, limbs sprawled. With the sickening sound of metal biting into flesh, Kolag impales the sorcerer’s abdomen to the ground with his claymore.

Kolag lets go of his claymore and knees the man’s chest. He punches the sorcerer's face violently. “Kidnapping women!” *Punch* “Violating them!” *Punch* “Torturing people!” *Punch* “Executing good people!” *Punch* “In the most inhuman ways I’ve ever seen!” *Punch* “Leaving them out to rot!” *Punch* “Naked!” *Punch* “Without even a tree to their names!” *Punch*.

The man puts his hands on Kolag’s helmet. “Reviss kas!” <Energy feed!> he yelps with his last breath. But nothing happens. Kolag’s claymore is probably made out of an iron alloy, I’ll have to ask him. Either that or that man can’t concentrate with a sword in his belly…

Kolag gets up, grips his claymore, and twists it in the man’s guts. “I should let you die in the same horrible way you executed the innocent. I should let you suffer! But I’m not cruel like you.” He decapitates the man in a swift motion. The head rolls on the ground and stops near my feet, looking up at me with a pain etched on the priestly face. “By the light of Noxi, this is justice!” Kolag roars above the headless body, raising his sword above his head.

To my utter surprise, the crowd boos and jeer. They received the show they were here for, even if it wasn’t a one on one battle. Why are they so unhappy? Kolag cleans his blade on the man’s white robes. He turns and walks toward me, his claymore, resting on his shoulder and his face hidden by his helmet.

The way he looks makes my heart miss a beat. Posing on the battlefield again… Bucket head... I shake my head with amusement, trying not to think about the dead face near my feet or the few women who ogle Kolag instead of booing with the rest of the crowd.

“I’m tired, Inara…” he says in Toml’a. “I’m really tired of all this horseshit. Let’s head to that monster’s palace and take him out for good. Don’t scheme. Don’t play by their rules. Just take him out! Plain and simple.”

Seems like I have a lot to learn about battling a magic-wielding opponent, I would’ve lost this battle without Kolag… I’m glad Jerro told him to stick close… Swift 1st level spells… can’t say I expected this, I can only cast 1 of these… I imagine Luard can cast more of them... “I’m not sure we’re capable of that, we barely survived this guy,” I say, smoothing my puffed hair. I blink rapidly, trying to dismiss the afterimages in front of my eyes. “Jerro, what happens if we assault the King’s palace directly?”

“My soul mate lives, I live, you all die.” Jerro’s reply is cold as if he does not care whether we live or die.

“I have less than half of my mana left, Kolag. I can use some of my magical gems if it comes down to it, but there’s a limit to how many gems I can drain and I’d rather not waste them… I’m still sore from that lightning…” I probably have a new lightning scar now… A few of my muscles cramp, causing me to wince and lean against the table. “...I’m in no condition to have another fight like this, and they have two more spell-casters in that palace. I’d rather keep us alive to fight another day and lay low for a little while. The King should hear we defeated his man by now, let him look for us while we hide…”

Kolag turns his sword and stabs it into the wooden floor in the direction of the people, resting his hand on the hilt like a statue. The crowd disperses. Each of them goes back to their drink or out of the inn, but a few girls giggle and whisper to one another in excitement.

“Not that I get why, but they don't like you for some reason. Do you really have to pose for them?” I ask in annoyance still trying to fix my hair. It’s not fair, he looks amazing, all metal clad and powerful, beating a sorcerer all by himself. While I look like a silly, skinny, flat, short girl with puffed hair.

“Yes!” he says without breaking his pose.

“Why?”

“See that little boy over there? The one near the fireplace. If that little boy thinks I’m a hero from a tale, he’ll grow up wishing he could be like me, and I’ve created another fighter for justice in this world.”

His explanation shocks me. Was that his reason for posing?! Can’t be the only reason… “Admit it! You’re enjoying it. You just want to look like a hero!”

“Who said doing good can’t be enjoyable?” he echoes, keeping his heroic pose, but I can tell he’s smiling under his helmet.

“Ok. Enough posing for you! We’re going into hiding. Jerro, go and call Ryon’s group back, with Zoe and Ryon, we should find a good place to hide in this city.”

“We don’t have the time for that,” Jerro says. “The King knows his prince is dead, he’ll be here in seventeen minutes. The hunter should’ve done as I’ve ordered and killed the spy who reports to the King, now it is too late.”

“Let’s run for it, then! Leave the city?”

“Yes, the south gate is the closest,” Jerro responds.

It’s a race against time. We pack Loyal at the stables and leave the city within seventeen minutes. As we get out of town, I can hear the destruction and the screams behind us. The King certainly isn’t happy.

*~*~*

Interlude 75.1

Salik.

The dice roll on the table. Two pairs of snake eyes. Coin exchange hands and the men laugh and bicker. Salik happily parts with his coin, he had collected enough men to serve as soldiers and already signed contracts with them. The loud dice games only attracts more of them like moths to a flame.

With Lezere behind his back, no one thinks to be a clever gremlin, you can’t be a rotten gremlin when a huge orc is staring down at you with a snarl. Since Salik is losing money to these men, they’re more than happy to put down their coins, and with more men joining the game, there are more potential recruits for Inara.

“That’s her! The orc!” The shouts attracts Salik’s attention. A young man is pointing at Lezere. It’s hard to miss who the young man is talking to.

A slender middle aged woman in purple silk. Her blond hair is tied up on her nape in a tight bun, and her blue eyes focus on Lezere.

Salik can spot an arcane caster from miles away, it's in the sneer that's usually etched on their face, or the flowery scent they all have. An arcane caster ready for battle is your doom, an arcane caster relaxing? You put an arrow in their back. Salik hadn’t survived this long by challenging arcane casters directly, except for his younger years. But the abilities he had back then are long gone by now.

Salik grabs a nearby straw hat and puts it on his head. Just another mercenary amongst many.

“Get her! The one who brings me that piggy alive gets paid with ten sorcerer stones!” the woman shouts, pointing at Lezere.

That’s not an offer any of these greedy men can refuse. That’s a retirement pay, one that can last a whole family for a generation.

Lezere is surrounded by weapons within a second. “Ti-a’ark!” With the traditional orc battlecry, the girl draws her axe and fights against all odds. Salik shakes his head. Orcs don’t know the meaning of a tactical retreat, it’s one of their main weaknesses. Not that the girl can retreat, there’s nowhere to retreat when you’re surrounded.

“Alive!” the woman in the fancy silk shouts.

Lezere hacks with her axe, and a good man drops to the ground with a deadly wound in his shoulder. His name was Tidir, Salik has just signed his contract.

The other mercenaries are hesitant, the taller orc spins around like a madwoman, waving that gleaming axe of hers along with her fist and legs. She cleverly uses the mercenaries against one another, grabbing, tripping, and pushing some in the others' way. She clearly attempts to make her way toward the blond in the dress.

“Myrsha, nia tsaf lah. Lu myrsha nik kull lah. Nik wuan nalahi myrsha.” The blondie chants. Her voice echoes in the same manner Inara’s voice echoes when she chants her spells.

Lezere floats in the air. She’s still spinning, but the momentum is gone. Now she’s just flailing up in the air, slowly drifting toward the tall ceiling.

“Useless thugs. Why do I have to do everything myself?” The blondie declares as if she didn’t use the lives of three good men to stall a two meters orc so she can chant her long spell in peace.

“Ritsa.” A chair slams into Lezere, knocking her up into the ceiling. “Ritsa!” another chair. Then a pot. A series of blunt objects float up at Lezere like an odd set of arrows. Ramming and breaking against the the orcish woman one after the other until she’s beaten bloody against the ceiling. Lezere drops from the tall ceiling, a long 4 meters drop before she hits the ground with a dull thud.

“Tie the piggy up! His majesty better reward me for this, or he can get someone else to do his dirty work.” The woman orders a pair of guards to drag the unconscious Lezere away from there.

Salik turns back to his dice game when the commotion die out. He’s just another merc, nothing special. And he definitely cannot challenge a room full of men nor an arcane caster. Even if he offered them a double pay to charge at the caster, half of them would still side with her. This would’ve been bloody, and the army he’s meant to recruit would’ve killed itself.

No. Know your battles. Pick them wisely. Lezere might die, but a general cannot allow himself to become attached. Salik forces a smile on his face as he rolls the dice. And a general knows to keep rolling the dice and drawing the cards until he gets the hand he needs. And here it is. Two pairs of fours and Three times six. He definitely won this round. Salik collects the coin to his side of the table. Know your battles, pick them wisely…

*~*~*

Spells known:
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb.
Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison.

Focus capability: 12 patterns

Social status: Inara, Daughter of Mysteries. Apprentice to the Maven of Mysteries. Sorceress.

Wealth: 1498 Magic Gems. 1421 Golden Peas, 17 Silver Scales, 12 Copper Bits.

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.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keeps the pouches’ content fresh.
Fresh rose petals, 22g
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. 10/100

Companions:
Kolag of house Befar
Jerro

Languages:
Toml’a <People’s tongue> Fluent
Sinteo <Speech> Fluent
Myrsha <Gravity> 7/10
Felul <Wind> 1/10

Injuries and scars: aftershock muscle cramps.

2023-04-29 17:02:23 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 75 in color

2023-04-29 17:02:01 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 74 colorless

Author notes:

This chapter is dedicated to Simon Fernandes for supporting me on patreon.

Thank you very much for your support! <3

Chapter 74 Plans and Preparations.

A seeker of knowledge should have many teachers.
A seeker of power should have many enemies.
A seeker of creations should have many tools.
A seeker of devotion should have many followers.
A seeker of the heart should stop trying.
The heart can’t be acquired, only given.

Tukado, the Creator.

“How many sorcerers have the King defeated already?” I ask with a frown.

“He doesn’t always fight himself, he sends his apprentices to fight. He has two of them. Prince Reynold, and Princess Drusilla.” The giddy girl explains while leading the way. She moves ahead of me and spins, walking backward half the time.

“You did not answer my question. How many did his apprentices beat already?”

Zoe counts on her hands. “Princess Drusilla beat two challengers in the last two years. And Prince Reynold beat three, but he doesn’t like to fight…”

Great… The ‘King’ is well established in here, while I waltzed into his territory like Kilako’s own peacock… so much for subtly… These ‘sorcerers’ are experienced in ‘magical battles’ while I don’t have much experience in that field… Saving those women was a mistake… Maybe so. But I don't regret that! Regardless, I can’t turn back the time, I need to find a way to deal with this mess…

“Who ruled here before the King took over?”

“The Queen. Queen Althea, but the King won against her, and now she’s called Princess Drusilla. It was five years ago, I was sixteen back then, and I remember their magic battle. It was something to remember! The King froze half of her grace Drusilla’s body and forced her to surrender!”

“Is Prince Reynold also someone the King has beaten? Was that the man who picked a wife for the King?”

“No. that was the Lawmaker, Lawmaker Garion Gemhand. He’s not a sorcerer, just a rich man working for the king. Queen Althea beat Prince Reynold a long time ago. But I don’t remember that battle, I was too young.”

Explains why you aren’t afraid that I’ll lose… or at least not as afraid as you should be… or do you simply believe I’ll win? “Did you watch the magic battles the King had in the past? Why do you believe I’m going to win?”

“Yes! The King can summon ice and water, he then freezes his enemies. He can throw swords and spears made of ice, but he can’t summon multiple elements like you can. You were incredible back there! I’ve never heard of a sorcerer who can control more than two elements. You made that scream sorcery, then you set them on fire, then you made this blinding sunlight sorcery that Prince Reynold does! And then you used sorcery to make a lot of weapons fly and attack people like Princess Drusilla! And there were sorceries I’ve never seen before. Like the vines from the ground and that weird water that melted that man’s face!”

“Kaka… the chief is a strong shaman.” Lezere who’s been quiet until now comments proudly from the side.

I feel the heat covering my face. I just slaughtered twenty armed men by myself without even breaking a sweat… I’m not sure if I should celebrate or… They were pretty dumb, if they only threw the spears at me I’d be forced to defend myself… the only reason I won is a combination of surprise, their fear, and luck...

Focus. If Luard can only control ice and water to that degree, he’s a 2nd stage apprentice… or at least very strong with water… they just don’t have the enchanted amulet I do, they don’t have such a large general mana reserve… or maybe they never thought of learning spells of other elements…

Let’s assume he’s a 3rd stage… I can’t afford to underestimate him…

“What do you think King Luard will do?” I ask her.

“He’ll probably send Prince Reynold to recruit you. Prince Reynold can summon sunlight and lightning bolts.” The giddy girl doesn’t even bother lowering her voice, but her information is useful to me.

“And he never uses any other elements?!”

Zoe shakes her head. “Nope. Never! At least I never saw him using something other than these two elements.” The way she talks about them with reverence and awe… these people indeed worship mages… but if that’s the case, why is she talking to me without any fear? This is too different from Axero…That’s a question for another time, I’ve got bigger things to worry about…

Zoe points at a large four-story building made out of gray stone. I can hear the laughter and music inside even out here on the muddy street. “That’s the only large inn in the city. Your friends must be here.”

I enter the inn, and the spacious common room turns silent. Barmaids freeze with their trays in hand, men and women cease their conversations and everyone turns to look at me. Only now do I realize that I’m covered in gore.

The inn is rather cozy, the gray walls are decorated with shelves of yellow and red flowers along with brass candleholders. The statue near the fireplace is foreign, doesn’t belong to any god I recognize. It features a short stocky man with a long white beard. He wears the iconic brim hat of a wizard. Both the hat and robes are painted blue and are covered in golden stars. There’s a small cannery perching on the very tip of his hat.

I wipe the blood off my face with my sleeve when I spot Salik and Berthold, but not the rest of my group.

“Aahem… chief? Mind if go talk to that guy?” Lezere points at a large orc who sits in the common room corner.

“Not at all. Go ahead.” I dismiss her and make my way to Salik and Berthold’s table, buzzing conversations and excited whispers erupt all over the common room.

Salik and Berthold lift their eyes from their mugs and cut their conversation short. “Berthold. Gather everyone for me, will you? We don’t have a lot of time.” I say as I approach.

Berthold gets up with a nod, while Salik remains seated, chugging down his ale. I take an empty seat gesturing for Zoe to sit down. My giddy guide offers Salik her hand for a shake. “Hello! I’m Zoe! Are you a sorcerer too?”

“A sorcerer?! Not in a million years, kid.” Salik ignores the offered hand and gulps another mouthful of ale.

Zoe takes her hand back as if she put it inside a fire, her brown eyes dimming.

“Inara, you look like pea rot, how many have you killed?” Salik asks me from over his mug.

“How dare you?!” Zoe calls out angrily like she hadn’t been casual with me until this very moment.

“Twenty. Rapists.” I reply curtly, taking the wet towel from the barmaid who offers it to me.

He nods in understanding and takes another gulp.

“Tell me something, Salik…”

The man frowns at me silently.

I wipe my face and hair slowly. “How does a smart man like you, gets himself under the hag’s… the Maven of Mysteries’ whip?” It's something I've been wondering about for a while now.

“That’s not much of a story. Are you sure you'd rather sit here and listen to an old tale rather than take a bath?”

I take another towel from the barmaid when the first one gets too bloody. “I'm not sure if we have the time for that. I’m gathering up everyone, I’d rather listen to something interesting until they all get here,” I reply with a shrug.

“You should really look up a cleaning spell in that fancy book of yours, you look like faeshit. I guess there’s no harm in telling you if you must know…” He empties his wooden mug and knocks it down on the table. “Do you know what that glitter you're throwing around every day actually is?”

“Some kind of addictive drug? I never asked, the hag doesn’t like questions about it…”

He laughs mirthlessly. “Of course she doesn’t like questions about it. You see, this is who I am: An axe for hire, ready for the endless adventure and battle. I’ve fought in countless battles, and slew many monsters. I worked for all kinds of people, from noblemen and emperors to mages and priests. I never thought of settling down, never wanted to marry.” He pauses and shrugs. “Only married once, didn’t end well, but that’s another story. I always thought this life will kill me eventually, didn’t want to leave a widow behind. This life took plenty of my friends, yet I survived somehow. Maybe the twelve above and their fates have a sense of humor…”

“It’s the thirteen!” Zoe interrupts him angrily.

“Whatever you say, tulips,” Salik dismisses her without care and continues his story. “At some point, I reached an age where the strength had left my arms. My swing had weakened, and I wasn’t as quick on my feet, but I still did my best to keep fighting. I expected to die the way I lived, maybe save a youngling in the process. Yet, I couldn’t die. And there I was in my seventies, still trying to make a living as a mercenary.”

“You’re not even forty!” Zoe interrupts him again with ridicule on her face. Salik sighs and raises a bushy eyebrow at me.

“Zoe, let the man speak!” I let my irritation enter my voice.

“Yes, master!” She twirls a strand of her hair around her finger distractingly, her brown eyes still narrowed at Salik with disdain.

Salik continues his story. “So… everyone told me to retire, my best friends and my team—who were all younger than me of course. Retire, find a beautiful young girl who’ll care for me, give me a child, and inherit my riches. Teach the youngsters how to fight. You see the ground of the matter. But I was a stubborn old fool who wouldn’t give up on his way of life…”

He heaves a heavy sigh. “A good friend of mine had told me about the Maven of Mysteries. Said she was a powerful witch of old, an alchemist who could return the strength to my arms. Make me young again in exchange for gold. And me?”

He snorts and shakes his head. “I had plenty of gold to spare. After the first time I took glitter, I could already swing my axe again. Even my missing teeth grew back.” He chuckles mirthlessly. “I’ve taken this potion for over twenty years now, I’m still as fit as I was sixty years ago in my prime. You understand now? Although drinking it gives an extremely pleasant feeling, better than any drink or girl I’ve ever tasted or been with. Yes, you want to drink more, Glitter is addictive. But it’s the life and youth that are truly compelling you to keep drinking that thing.” He raises his empty mug, “barmaid! Another ale!”

“Coming right up!”

“Still waiting to die the way you lived?” I ask.

He nods silently, his brown eyes following the barmaid.

I guess this is the only way out for him…

By now the party had assembled. Except for Sharla and Lezere, everyone is here. I eye the corner of the inn. Lezere seems to have a heated argument with the other orc, they both snarl and growl at each other. “Just a minute everyone.”

I make my way to their table. “Lezere? Who’s your friend?”

She clacks her teeth. “This wolf is called Balgrum, chief.” Balgrum... the name sounds familiar…

“Dogs can’t be chief. Only shaman.” The other orc snarls. “That bitch is too small to be grand chief. I snap her hands like birdbones!”

“She’s my grand chief!” Lezere says angrily. “That bitch can rip your entrails and feed on them!”

The orc shakes his head and replies calmly. “al gah’ sugly ik. a’arj neh’a gruh’lar, iela’arj potasi, gah’ oko.”

Wait! Lezere. Daughter of Balgrum, daughter of sheep… that guy is her father! What is he doing here? It doesn’t matter… we’re pressed for time! I pat her shoulder. “Good luck with your father, Lezere, I’ll brief the others in the meantime.”

She growls angrily. “How did you know?”

“You told me his name a while back. Lezere, daughter of Balgrum, daughter of sheep. I have a good memory. Take your time and enjoy this reunion instead of fighting over technicalities, ok? Whether I’m your chieftess or shaman shouldn’t matter.” I pat her shoulder and go back to my group.

“ik ko shuka’a potasi.” I hear her father remarking behind my back, his tone is admiring.

“La’aoko!” Lezere growls at him.

I take my seat at the group’s table again. “Ok, here’s the deal! I may have announced our presence to the ‘King’ by saving a group of women from being violated. Yes I know it was foolish, but…”

“I wouldn’t call it foolish. That’s what every decent human being should do!” Kolag interrupts me. Zoe and Berthold nod sharply, while Salik raises his mug at me with a proud smile.

It makes me feel odd, it makes me feel good. And the fact I feel so good about it catches me by surprise. What happened to my apathy? My lips form an uncontrollable smile.

“Ahem…” I clear my throat trying to ignore the heat on my face. “Fact is. The King knows we’re here, or that I’m here. That means we’ll soon see one of his followers. As far as I understood, the common folk here—including the guards—won’t challenge mages… or sorcerers as we’re called here. Sorcerers dish it out with magic battles, not sure how organized these battles are yet…” I glance at Zoe.

“I’m sorry, but I have no clue how sorcerers organize the magic battles. They just meet in some place with a crowd and fight…”

“Then we figure it out. In the meantime: Salik, find the local mercenaries and recruit them all to our cause. Sorcerers may dish it out with some unwritten laws, but I can't say I trust unwritten rules so much, a good army at my back is safer. Promise them the fat pay of one magical gem per fighting hand, the contract is for two years… Zoe, you guys use magical gems as money here, right?” I take out a gem.

“Oh, a sorcerer’s stone!” Her eyes light up when she sees the diamond in my hands.

“Focus, Zoe. How much is this worth in terms of gold?”

“Five hundred gold coins. Only sorcerers can give you these stones. And they’re the only ones who buy them.” Her glittering eyes follow the glowing diamond.

I grab a few handfuls of gems from the small sack in my belt pouch and fill a purse with it. I slide it over the table toward Salik. “That works for us.”

“That’s a lot of money, I’ll need some protection.” He adds.

“Yeah, take Lezere with you, once she’s done with that guy over there. I’ll give you a contract. Make them sign it with their blood, make sure they understand that they’ll die if they break their word.” It’s not real. But if they get paid ahead of time, best if they believe in some unknown magic that binds them to the contract… we need all the spears we can get…

Salik frowns at me. “I don’t aim to undermine you, but is it okay if you let me handle that? I’ve already been to the temple of Tonisha and made some acquaintances.” He raises his mug with a wink toward Jerro of all people. Jerro just hugs himself, visibly shaking. “I can ensure their loyalty without such… drastic measures,” Salik continues.

Did Jerro tell him to? That guy is useful… if only he wouldn’t predict Kolag’s death all the time… I should let Salik handle it. I don’t need to have direct control over everything. Leading mercenaries is something he did for his whole life... “Be my guest. No need to be afraid to hurt my feeling, just speak your mind next time.”

“Oh is that so?!” he asks, bushy eyebrows raised high. “You’re a rotten, pea for brains kid, whose way in over her head.” Not wrong… but this rotten kid will become very powerful one day… I’ll show you! If you even survive that long!

Berthold gasps and distances himself from Salik. It makes me realize why Salik said what he did. Berthold is still afraid of me, huh… At least the others don’t overreact about it.

Ryon bursts into wild laughter, spitting out some of the food in his mouth. “Ye! She has small jugs too. But they clean. She wash.” Breasts, food, and power are all you care about… Life is so simple for you…

“How dare you?!” Zoe jumps up to her feet, “she’s a sorceress! A…”

“Yeah yeah, tulips!” Salik dismisses her, he stands up and pats Berthold’s shoulder. “See that, kid? She doesn’t bite.” He then heads toward Lezere’s table, throwing the small pouch of gems in the air and catching it as if it's filled with copper bits instead of gems.

“Calm down Zoe. These people are my friends. You can also say to me whatever you want, ok?”

“Someone might die,” Jerro says ominously. “The hunter, the brute, or the old man. The hunter should’ve listened to me and killed the spy. It is too late now.”

“I see. Ok. I’ll tell Salik to call it off, and we’ll leave the city,” I answer.

“No. It is too late. If we leave now without a plan, hundreds will die. The knight will die. My soulmate dies. We cannot call off your plan. We cannot let her die!” Jerro is only anxious for Sharla’s life, not Kolag’s.

I sigh. “Are you sure one of those three will die if I continue this plan?”

“No. It’s a possibility.”

“And if we leave?”

“My soulmate dies for sure. The knight, maybe,” he replies.

It makes sense. Sharla is alone in the king’s palace, all it takes is someone who connects her to me and he kills her off… “Ok. I can’t entertain possibilities. If leaving leads to a certain death, and staying our course is a maybe, I’ll take a maybe. Now, Zoe, do you know where the King’s palace is?”

She nods rapidly, eyeing the group with open hostility. “It’s near the south western wall, you can’t miss it.”

“Ryon, you and Berthold will go with Zoe here. She’ll show you where the King’s palace is. I want you to find a way into his palace after nightfall. Can you do that?”

“Her name’s Zoe?” Ryon’s eyes are focused on Zoe’s chest in a way that makes me feel uncomfortable.

“Yes! Her name is Zoe, did you listen to what I said?”

He keeps chewing on a piece of meat, his eyes aren’t leaving Zoe’s chest. “Ye! Go to da’ King palace an’ find da’ way in. I listen, don’ worry, I’ll find ya a good balco! Zoe, you have big jugs, you wanna snake later?”

Zoe wrinkles her nose. “No, thank you.” She gives me a worried look.

“He won’t touch you if you aren’t interested,” I calm her down. “Now get going you three.”

Salik drags Lezere away. She snarls at her father, leaving him with a sneer on his face. Ryon’s group follows them out of the inn, leaving me alone with Jerro and Kolag. “I don’t know what you have in mind for me, but I’m not leaving you alone without protection,” Kolag exclaims.

“Kolag. I’m not defenseless. You know that I…”

“I know. Jerro said I’m to stay by your side if you are to survive. I’m not leaving. Even if he’s wrong.”

“I see… what’s going on, Jerro?” I turn to the prophet who’s focused on the doorway.

“We have a visitor…” Jerro says in a low voice. “Make sure he doesn’t leave this inn alive!”

I follow Jerro’s eyes to the brown-haired man who enters the inn at this very moment. He wears white robes decorated with gold, he looks like a radiant priest of Noxi. The crowd parts before him making a way to the middle of the inn where Kolag, Jerro, and I sit.

“What happens if he leaves the inn alive?” I mumble the question under my breath.

“The apprentice dies for sure, the brute dies for sure, the old man dies for sure, the hunter dies for sure, the…”

“Ok. I get the idea. Thank you,” I say, getting up to my feet to meet the approaching man.

*~*~*

Interlude 74.1

Shar-La-Fyn-Wyn-Yeslun <White-Near-River-Dew-Thorn> / <Sharlafyn Nettledew.>

Shar-La-Fyn-Wyn-Yeslun <White Nettledew> is puzzled about the note she got from the cacu-dru <half drow>.

Do not try to poison the enemy, he will notice.
J

She doesn't even have access to poison, how would she poison the king? She shrugs and eats the crumpled note, chewing slowly on parchment. Hopefully, that little much leather won't cause her a stomachache. She has to focus on the task ahead. Her face forms a mask of fear and accepting one's doom, as appropriate for a dul-aim-an <woman> in the position she took.

"My King." Lawmaker Garion kneels before an imposing dan-na <king> on a throne. "This is your future wife." He gestures at Shar-La-Fyn-Wyn-Yeslun <White Nettledew> still kneeling.

"Why isn't she kneeling?" a blond dul-aim-an <woman> demands to know.

"I-I'm sorry, my King." Shar-La-Fyn-Wyn-Yeslun <White Nettledew> stutters and kneels slowly on all four, making sure the King will get a good look at her curves.

"Garion!" the blond dul-aim-an <woman> says angrily. Garion crawls to her feet and starts kissing and licking her boot. The dul-aim-an <woman> nods in satisfaction.

"That's enough, Drusilla," the dan-na <king> commands and the blond dul-aim-an <woman> kicks the Lawmaker away with a sneer. "Garion, take my new wife to her chambers. We have more pressing issues to discuss. Drusilla, we have another sorceress in town. I've sent Reynold to take care of her. But in case he fails, I want you to find me a good hostage.

Drusilla rolls her eyes. "As you command, my King." Her curtsy is theatrical and sarcastic, Shar-La-Fyn-Wyn-Yeslun <White Nettledew> memorizes her demeanor, in case she ever needs to take her shape. "Anything else you need of me?"

The dan-an <king> leans back in his golden throne. "That'll be all. Talk to Olfgram, he has all the information on her group."

The blond dul-aim-an <woman> leaves the hall, swaying her hips. Shar-La-Fyn-Wyn-Yeslun <White Nettledew> makes sure not to copy her too much, Luard clearly dislikes that dul-aim-an <woman>.

*~*~*

Arigor’s Lesser Vines
Names: Arigor’s lesser vines, lesser vines, lesser vine control.
Element: wood
Sub element: growth
Level: 0
Words: Rod’en’a
Translation: Vines
Quicken: X
Patterns: 3
Gestures: X
Offering: X
Requirement: standing or touching earth or wooden surface.
Range: 15 meters
Target: any point with earth or wooden surface.
Duration: instant/channel.
Effect: The spell will grow three vines out of the chosen surface. The vine will move to the caster’s will for the duration.
Cost: 6 wood gems for the initial cast, 1 wood gem per five seconds to maintain.
Bound cost: X
Altered cost: 1 gem per five second for each alteration pattern.

*~*~*

Spells known:
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb.
Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison.

Focus capability: 12 patterns

Social status: Inara, Daughter of Mysteries. Apprentice to the Maven of Mysteries.

Wealth: 1498 Magic Gems. 1421 Golden Peas, 17 Silver Scales, 37 Copper Bits.

Items:
Magical necklace. Contain a 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.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keep the pouches’ content fresh.
Fresh rose petals, 22g
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. 10/100

Companions:
Kolag of house Befar
Jerro

Languages:
Toml’a <People’s tongue> Fluent
Sinteo <Speech> Fluent
Myrsha <Gravity> 7/10
Felul <Wind> 1/10

Injuries and scars:

2023-04-25 08:48:17 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 74 in color

2023-04-25 08:47:58 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 73 colorless

Author notes:

This chapter is dedicated to John Growcott for supporting me on patreon.

Thank you so much for your support!

Chapter 73 Kill Them All.

When you encounter extreme act of evil, don’t give in to mercy.
For mercy toward evil is cruelty toward the victims.
Kill them all! Bring down the wrath of judgement!
Let them taste the light of truth!
Let them experience the evil of their deeds!
Make them suffer under their wrongdoing!

Noxi, Guardian of Light.

“Please help the other women escape when the guards catch onto what I’m doing,” I whisper to the woman I just rescued while she gets out from under the dead guard. She’s covered in blood, but she doesn’t seem as shaken as I was the first time I went through such an ordeal. It’s probably not her first time…

I move to the next guard, killing him with another quiet wind blade. But this time one of them notices me. “To arms! This whore is killing us!”

Most of them wake up from their lusty daze. They let the women go and reach for their weapons.

“Get out!” I stand up and shout toward the girls the corrupt guards just let go. Except for about four girls who are too slow and stay on the ground, the rest hurry toward the exit, hugging pieces of torn clothes. One of them reaches for a guard’s spear. He wrestles the spear, and they fight over the weapon. The woman is losing, the guard twists the spear and aims the bronze tip at her chest.

“Rod’ena” <Vines> I test my first new cantrip in action. Three vines grow from the wooden floor, two vines wrap themselves around the guard’s wrists and legs, while the third wraps around the spear separating it from both the guard and the woman on the ground. I use the vine to aim the spear toward the guard’s abdomen and “Ritsa!” <repulse!>. The guard yelps as the spear burst out of his back. He tries to pull his own spear out of his belly and collapses. The spear breaks with a loud snap underneath him.

The brown haired woman gets up, and reaches for another spear from the ground. She walks backward aiming the spear at the guards without covering her exposed chest.

“Your grace! Milady sorceress!” A pair of guards step forward and kneel. “Please spare us! We will serve and worship you! Only you!” The few women still left in the hall use the opportunity to leave, panting and screaming. The brunette with the spear retreats behind me, looking at me hesitantly. I can see the anxiety in her brown eyes.

Be my practice dummies and die! “I have no use for beasts controlled by their lust! Kusharisa!” <acid!> I test my next cantrip, spraying the kneeling guards with the clear liquid coming out of my hand. Janara’s cantrip, I learned it despite my low affinity for earth, something to remember her by.

The guards scream as the clear liquid hits them with a sizzle. Horrified, I cut the mana to my spell and watch. Their skin and flesh melt off, the first claws at his face, gurgling. The other rolls on the ground letting out terrifying screams.

Acid is way too cruel… it’s a torture spell, not a killer spell. Not my kind of weapon.

They deserve it!

The fifteen remaining guards watch for a long horrifying moment, then lower their spears. “Charge!” “Fight for your lives!” “Get her!” “Run!” “Go!” Different shouts. Different solutions. Fight or flight in the face of death.

Oh no you don’t! “Tans fiuak!” <loud badsound!> drawing mana from my necklace, I follow this cantrip with a long scream toward the charging guards. The guards stumble with a wince. They drop their weapons, covering their ears.

Only one of them manages a single step forward, clenching onto his spear, blood trickling out of his ear holes. Still screaming, I see his green eyes stare at me with determination, his face twisted into a painful grimace.

I gasp once I run out of breath for my scream. And the guards manage to regain their senses, but not fast enough.

“Kushjak!” <oil!> I aim my hand high and spray the black substance in their general direction. They split and dodge, avoiding the black goo. But five of them still get covered or hit by it. Including the green eyed man who braved my ‘Sonic Scream’ cantrip.

“Fotyr folo!” <fire fly!> The fiery arrow hits the black substance and the five guards burst into bright flames. Three of them turn into screaming human torches amidst the fiery pool, and two of them roll on the ground in a desperate attempt to douse the flames. Also rather cruel… this is no different from what Adir used to do... why does killing have to be so cruel?! They deserve it! I’m not feeling sorry for them! They wouldn’t feel sorry for me if the situation was reversed!

The rest of them split. Half are trying to run past me, and the other half attempt to charge at me while drawing their bronze swords. They’re still three meters away from me, which isn’t close enough to be a threat yet.

“Rivssor ak!” <light strong!> I close my eyes and the flashing light I create blinds them, causing them to stumble instead of run away.

“Latsa!” <lift!> “Ritsa!” <repulse!> I lift six weapons from the ground and impale six dazed guards with their own spears, draining about half of my gravity mana at once.

The remaining four unarmed guards break for the exit, stumbling in their desperate attempt for survival. But a small group of women led by Lezere blocks their way.

“Rod’ena.” <Vines.> Three vines wrap around the legs of three guards. They stumble and fall forward. Drawing mana from my necklace, I make the vines climb up their bodies like constrictor snakes. I wrap them around the necks and squeeze. The last guard makes it to the women unharmed and unarmed. Lezere steps forward and grabs his hair, twisting his head.

“Please!” He doesn’t even reach for his sword or attempt to fight her. Lezere chops his head with her axe and his body drops like a log. She raises the bodiless head up high and shouts. “Ti-a’ark!” I’m surprised when the group of women behind her scream the same word too.

What in the five hells is going on? Why are they still here shouting like a group of orcs?

“Watch out!!!” The woman with the spear shrieks.

I turn just in time to see the green-eyed man pouncing at me with a bronze sword in hand. The woman impales him. With the spear lodged halfway through his lower abdomen, he swings toward the woman’s neck.

I step forward. “Myrsha samir!” <gravity protects!> my red barrier flickers into existence. The swing slows down. The man’s green eyes open wide. He’s covered in burn marks, blood comes out of his ears, and his face is disfigured beyond recognition.

I catch his wrist and push his sword away from the woman who just saved me. I put my right hand on his face, feeling the soft charred flesh under my skin. “Myrsha ritsa!” <gravity repulse!> The head explodes like a ripe watermelon falling from atop the Sapphire Tower, showering me with gore, bone splinters, and brain matter.

The headless body drops lifelessly to the ground when the woman lets go of her spear. I pick out a large piece of gore stuck in the collar of my dress and throw it away. The green eye rolls on the ground, still staring at me with the same determined look it had when the man was alive.

I should’ve recruited him… Why because his eyes were memorable? He was a monster like the rest of these guards, he didn’t deserve to live!

I turn. The three guards bound and choked by my vines are getting stabbed repeatedly by the women in the room. My head begins to hurt. Even while supplying mana through my necklace, I can no longer maintain the wood magic, the patterns of wood magic simply require too much concentration. It's one thing to cast a quick cantrip or two, it's another to hold the same patterns in my head for too long. I let my vines go.

Lezere walks back to my side with a snarl. “You gave the bunnies teeth, you are a good chief! They won’t run away if they fight by your side, and I can train them to be wolves.”

“I’m not so sure. Most of these women have families, husbands, children, fathers, and mothers. I doubt they’d just pick up arms for me…”

“Your grace!” The woman who called for my help earlier kneels on one knee in front of me. “Thank you very much for your help!”

“Don’t thank me yet, I’m risking a whole lot saving you! There’s no such thing as a free meal in this world.” Why did I say that?! What do I expect her to do for me exactly? There are no free meals in the world. She made me divert my plans for her so she could do something for me… Like what? Doesn't matter! She's my pawn now!

“Yes, your Holy Grace! Anything you demand! I’m yours to command!” The rest of the women behind her kneel as well, all on one knee, all what the same words. “Your grace!”

What? Holy grace? Why are they kneeling like that?

“Don’t you have families to go back to?” I ask, still dumbfounded.

“We do your grace. But following a holy sorceress like you comes first!”

Sharla wasn’t joking… they worship magicians... this is disgusting… I’m just a mortal, not someone to worship. “Is King Luard not a sorcerer as well?”

“He is. We worshiped him. But he’s a vile sorcerer who does not care for his followers. No matter how much sacrifice and offerings we gave him he wouldn’t protect us. You are a good sorceress, like in the bard’s tales.” The young woman with the spear shouts. By now she found something to cover her chest.

“You are here to kill him and take over the city right?” The woman who begged for my help asks with a hopeful tone.

“Yes,” I reply curtly. “But I planned to do it quietly. Saving you altered my plans… I can only hope that the King will be too busy with his new wife and won’t notice anything.” I point at the woman who asked for my help. “I’ll need you to serve as my guide and my personal maid. The rest of you can go home, try not to alert the guards if you can. It'd be helpful if you convince your families to fight for my cause when I put up a fight.” I can’t just march a group of women to the nearby inn, it’ll attract too much attention…

“For… for how long your grace?” The woman I saved asks with a flinch.

“A year or two.”

The brown-eyed woman looks me straight in the eye without any fear. “Your grace. I have an infant who needs me back at home. I can’t leave him without a mother for a year. A month is as far as I’m willing to go.”

Hmmm… so on the one hand they worship me… on the other, they clearly have their own lives and aren’t willing to give them up… I don’t understand these people… I’m glad she’s not scared of me, not enough to throw away her whole life and her baby… even if the worshiping is a little creepy…

“I’ll do it!” The brunette girl who tried to fight stands up from her kneeling position, her brown eyes glittering with excitement. “You don’t have to pay me a copper! Just teach me how to be a sorceress, like you!”

I nod, it’s better to have a willing follower than an unwilling one, and I don’t care which one of the locals would be my guide. “I can do my best teaching you, but it’s up to your talent whether you can use magic or not. The rest of you are free to go.”

The mother of the infant hugs the girl who offered herself to my service. “Watch yourself Zoe, getting into sorcerers’ business… it’s trouble…”

“Oh come on! It’s a dream come true for me!”

“Exactly why you should be watching yourself…” The mother gives me a side glance and keeps what she was about to say to herself. Think you’ve manipulated me have you? I guess she did, in a way… but my choices are mine… and there’s nothing wrong with asking for help… I don’t regret helping them… Not even if it gets someone I care about killed?

The mother squeezes the younger girl. “Don’t die ok?”

“I won’t!”

The mother turns to me. “Thank you for saving us your grace. But if you get my sister killed I won’t ever forgive you! Even if you’re a holy sorceress.” Only now do I notice that these two are sisters. They both have similar facial features, light brown hair, and brown eyes.

The mother ties up her coif and turns to leave with the rest of the women, while Zoe stays behind, shifting her weight from leg to leg. I can tell she’s giddy. I guess that if I wasn’t there watching her, she’d probably do something to let out her excitement, like squealing or laughing. But near me, she desperately tries to maintain her composure.

I turn toward the door and gesture for her and Lezere to follow me. “Come on, let’s go. Show me where the inns are, I need to find my friends first.”

Zoe follows me circling me as we walk. “Does that mean I’m your apprentice now? Oh, what’s your name ma’am? Or should I call you ma’am? Or master! Can I please call you master? You are a master sorceress right?” the girl can barely contain her excitement.

“My name is Inara, but you can call me whatever you want. And yes I guess you’re my apprentice for now, but if you won’t awaken any talent for magic there’s nothing I can teach you.” I reply in a dry tone. You don’t want to enter this world of magic girl… Why not? I don’t think she’ll be leaving the gray isles, and here she doesn’t have to advance in rank, meaning she won’t have to consume souls. Having more power to defend herself will be a useful thing for her…

“How old are you? If it’s ok to ask I mean! Did you make yourself appear younger with magic? Or are you really only sixteen years old?” She asks as we walk out of the building to the muddy streets of the city.

Does she really think I look sixteen?! I may be short but I don’t look ‘that’ young! “How old are you?” I ask her with a frown.

“I just turned twenty one a month ago, it’s not like…”

I filter out the rest of her chatter. There is no guard in sight, nor any residents. Other than the women who escaped, the muddy streets are empty. Not good… “I’m twenty-eight, I’m a half elf I age slower,” I answer distractingly. “Are the streets usually empty at this hour?”

“What’s a half elf? And no, but people probably heard that there’s a sorceress here to challenge the King! The guards won’t challenge you. Everyone is waiting for the magic battle to happen!”

Magic battle… great! I’m at half of my mana after the battle with the guards… and my necklace has around seventy gems left in it… and here come the consequences of my choice...

*~*~*

Aria’s Sonic Scream
Names: Aria’s sonic scream, sonic scream, scream, glass breaker, little banshee.
Element: air
Sub element: sound
Level: 0
Words: tans fiuak
Translation: loud bad sound.
Quicken: X
Patterns: 4
Gestures: Scream after casting.
Offering: X
Requirement: a female caster/a caster with a high pitched voice.
Range: highest in record: 37 meters* varies from voice to voice, varies by air affinity, inaccurate range estimation. (the higher the voice is pitched and the higher affinity the caster has - the longer the range.)
Target: cone.
Duration: instant.
Effect: Will turn a high pitched scream into a destructive sonic scream in a cone originated from the caster. The scream will stun and deafen any creature inside the cone, possible permanent damage to the ears. The scream will also shatter ceramic based objects and glass. (Note that it will not disable the nullifying abilities of glass, merely shatter it to fragments) The closest the creatures and objects are to the caster, the higher the damage will be.
Cost: 9 wind gems.
Bound cost: X
Altered cost: X

*~*~*

Spells known:
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb.
Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison.

Focus capability: 12 patterns

Social status: Inara, Daughter of Mysteries. Apprentice to the Maven of Mysteries.

Wealth: 1854 Magic Gems. 1421 Golden Peas, 17 Silver Scales, 37 Copper Bits.

Companions:
Lezere of the Black Fang tribe
Zoe

Languages:
Toml’a <People’s tongue> Fluent
Sinteo <Speech> Fluent
Myrsha <Gravity> 7/10
Felul <Wind> 1/10

Injuries and scars:

2023-04-22 16:57:27 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 73 in color

2023-04-22 16:57:07 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 72 colorless

Author note:

This chapter is dedicated to Ross Doyle for supporting me on patreon.

Thank you so much for your support! <3

Chapter 72 A Choice.

Endure my children!
Endure your pain! Endure your guilt!
Your choices are your own to face!
And so are their consequences!

Amaret, the Great Sinner.

{28} Nuriss (March) the 1st

We live in that hall for two more days, while more and more women find their way inside. The more crowded the place becomes, the more stressed its residents are. The younger women start fights, pull each other’s hair, and bully the loners while amassing themselves in groups. The older ones refrain from interfering, keeping to their gossip group of friends they had before coming here, bullying each other through gossip and made up stories.

Apparently, every woman below the age of thirty is brought here, even those who are already married and have children. I know that because all some of these women can talk about is the children they left back home, or the husband they miss.

No one dares to bully us or get close to us. Lezere is intimidating enough, and Sharla is too popular in here. The latter moves from group to group, receiving smiles from everyone, fake or not. She becomes the temporary caretaker in this hall, making sure everyone has what they need.

We receive food every day, but the guards outside won’t talk to us. Not until today.

Today a bald man enters the hall. He wears a tailored robe with dark blue and green patterns on it. He walks into the hall with a cane in hand. He observes the women in the room, moving his free hand in his large white mustache. The bald man is followed by a group of no less than 20 guards, some with spears, some with drawn bronze swords.

I avoid prodding with my mana, I don’t want him to notice my presence. “Is this the King?” I whisper. But no one answers me. The women huddle back to the corner of the room into tight crowded groups. I find myself getting dragged into the middle of this terrified crowd of whimpering girls. I make my way forward in order to see what’s going on because I’m simply not tall enough. After getting stepped on and hit by a few stray limbs, I somehow manage to reach the very front.

The guards pick one of the younger girls who shrieks in horror. The man in blue and green shakes his head in dismissal and the guards push her to the other side of the room. The girl sobs on the ground, hugging herself.

The second girl is Lezere. She snarls at the guards showing her teeth. The mustachioed man sneers and shakes his head. The guards direct her to the same side as the first girl, but unlike the younger human girl, they don’t touch her.

They keep on dragging a girl to the bald man who simply shakes his head, then the girl finds herself at the other side of the room with another huddled crying group and the snarling Lezere.

When the guards drag a blond with an ample chest, it's the first time the man nods. “I’m married! I have a husband! My baby is waiting for me back home!” The woman screams, fighting the guards, only to have a blade pressed against her throat to silence her. She whimpers as the guards order her to strip. The man in blue and green nods again, and she’s escorted outside, naked.

I’m the one they pick next. Having my arm yanked like that brings me back to the time I had to grovel before my captors. I’m not taking this again! Not again! I’m going to kill them all! Calm down! Focus! If I kill them all I’ll simply alert this stupid ‘King’ to my existence… bear with it and wait for Sharla to infiltrate his court…

The bald man looks at me, moving his hand in his mustache in contemplation. Then shrugs. “Not good enough for our King.” He shakes his head and I find myself on the other side of the room. The girls there attempt to pull me into their group hug, but I reject and stand by Lezere’s side.

So this isn’t the King… I’m glad I didn’t attack… Regardless, I want him dead! “Remember these people’s faces because we’ll be killing them all later…” I mutter to Lezere in Toml’a.

“Grrrrr… yes chief!”

“I want the man with the mustache alive, I want to make him suffer!”

Lezere moves her shoulders as if she's trying to loose her muscles. “Grrrr… Being cruel to sheep is useful. It makes them obey or turns them into wolves. Being cruel to wolves is foolish, it allows them to bite back and kill you. Never give into cruelty chief. It clouds your mind with foolishness.”

“I know… I’m just… you’re right. Kill him if you can. Do it fast.” I just can’t stop thinking of the slave pens… of all the groveling and… No! That never happened! I hate this! I hate what it’s doing to me! I want this to be over already! I want to go see Kolag and talk to him… I want to keep studying cantrips… the road was so much better!

Sharla gets picked after a few more women. The bald man nods with appreciation and a big smile on his face when he sees her.

“No! No! Please! I beg you! Let me stay here! Please!” She screams as the guards tear off her dress. Naked, she throws herself at the man’s feet, hugging them. The guards pry her off and drag her outside, laughing at her screams. If I didn’t know it was an act, I’d actually pity her. She’s enjoying that… and probably feeding on the pity from all the girls here…

The selection continues. Fifteen women are picked. All of them are blond or red heads with large breasts, it’s obvious the King has a “type”.

The man with the cane leaves with a dismissive gesture to the guards. The guards all aim their spears at us. “Hey you Pigsy! Yea Orc woman! I'm talking to you!” The guard captain points at Lezere. “Get out!”

She growls, standing in place with defience.

“It’s ok Lezere, go outside… only fight if you have to defend yourself,” I mutter in Toml’a. I really don't want to get her killed here of all places... I doubt she can fight twenty men... and if I show magic to help her I'll be exposed...

She nods and leaves the hall. The guards visibly relax and exchange excited looks with one another. The guard captain nods with a perverse grin. “Take your pick boys!”

What the snake?! Are they really that perverse to just attack the women of their own town?!

But they are. Screams break out when the corrupt guards pull women into their arms. It’s obvious what’s coming next.

I wish I knew some sort of a mind-affecting spell, but looks like I have to kill these guards if I want to get out of here… Or I could let one of them have their way with me, that’s probably the smartest thing to do… NO! Not again!

Maybe I should… but I’m incapable of that… Not to mention… can I really stand by and do nothing? Why not? I don’t owe anything to these women! If I kill these guards the King will know about my existence and I’ll have to leave town… That’s alright, we can always camp outside the town’s walls…

Yes, but I’ll be warning this ‘King’ that there’s another mage apprentice in town. It’s a problem. It’s safer if he doesn’t know… That means I’ll need to let these guards have their way with me! I can’t do it! Not again! Never again! Come on! Think!

But I don’t have the luxury of time to think. A shaved middle-aged guard grabs my wrist with a lusty appreciative look in his brown eyes. “What’s your name fire-flower?”

Ew… “Inara,” I answer dryly. My lack of fear halts him in place. All around us the guards are pulling screaming women and tearing their clothes off.

“Are you not scared of me Inara?” The man's yellow teeth show through his perverse smile. “Have you ever been snaked by a man before? Or you never had your jar opened?”

What am I going to do? Kill him! This is what I wanted power for! I will not be treated like that again! KILL THEM ALL! MONSTERS! ALL OF THEM!

I move closer to him, pressing myself against his body and gliding my hands on his cheeks and jaw. The man’s brown eyes open wide, he did not expect such a reaction. A disappointment blooms on his face, as if he'd enjoy resistance more than compliance.

MONSTER!

I glide my hand down to his neck, forcing a seductive smile on my face. “Felul felik” <wind blade> I mutter under my breath. With a gust, a long thin cut appears in his throat and the blood gushes out.

The lust in his brown eyes turns to shock, and then horror when I cover his bleeding windpipe. He gurgles in a desperate attempt to breathe or speak. I kiss him to muffle the gurgles and taste his metallic blood under the foul breath. The groans, moans, and cries in this hall, drown the muffled desperate sounds he makes.

I pull him down with me, to lay on top of me. Just to avoid attracting any attention from the rest of these perverse beasts. “I’ve been with enough men like you. This is why I learned how to do this…” I mutter as I crawl out from under him. It doesn’t matter, he no longer has any life in his eyes.

Now I have to leave.

And leave all of these women to their fates?! I can't do that!

Why not? What's stopping me? I don't know them? Does it really worth it to expose my presence to the king just to save them?

Yes! Venom! I know what it's like! I can't just sit by and do nothing!

I'm not doing nothing. I'm eliminating the King and killing this problem at its root. Helping these women now will compromise eliminating the King... I have to chose one of the two.

I crawl toward the exit. Doing my very best to ignore the women's plea. I notice that a few of the women didn’t get dragged by the guards. Some of them dare to run or crawl toward the door, others are stuck in place watching in horror. With more women than guards it makes sense that not all of us get picked. The guards are too busy with the ones they chose to notice or care about their dead friend or the women that make their way outside.

“Please! Your grace! Help us!” One of the women does notice what I did, she screams at me for help, half buried under a guard. “I know you can! You can change everything here! You can…”

The guard put a hand on her mouth, shutting her up. “No one is coming ma lass, no one! No matter how much you pray! The sorcerers don’t care about a tiny little flower like you!” he declares without even looking up.

I should help her! No, that’ll just alert the King. But I've already killed someone! He'll know! A wind blade may seem like a dagger cut, and they didn’t take away the weapons, not to mention they leave their weapons laying around… so they’ll think a woman had bested a guard. I was discreet about it… but if I kill them all the King will know for sure…

Isn’t this what I wanted power for? No. I wanted power so I won’t be helpless. So I will be able to keep myself and the people I care about safe! Not so I could be some sort of hero… I’m not Kolag. I don’t know these women. I won’t risk my plans. Risking my plans will actually hurt them more in the long run, if I fail to take over this city, this will continue...

Apathy… this happens all over the world anyway, and if I risk exposing myself here I won’t be able to free them later… Yes. Apathy. Nothing I can do. Apathy. VENOM WITH THE APATHY! I know how this feels for them… And Kolag wouldn’t just stand by and do nothing…

It’s wrong! I can’t just stand by!

But if I don’t, I’m putting my friends’ lives at risk… I can't risk Lezere. I can't risk everyone. If the king knows I'm here some of them will probably die... Is it really worth it? These women can wait a little while longer...

I'll be putting their lives at risk. Yes! At risk! Yes! But they’re all at risk for even coming here! It’s not a certain death!

Where is Jerro and his predictions when I need him?

Argh, I can’t just stand by and do nothing, I have to help them… I guess I’m more like Kolag than I thought…

I change my path, crawl to the guard, and mutter another wind blade into his nape, covering his mouth with my other hand. “Thank you!” The woman gasps and whispers in relief.

I sigh. This goes against my goals, against my way of living, against my apathy. But I can’t shut off my memories either. Leaving these women to suffer is something I won’t be able to forgive myself for. And just thinking about Kolag’s judgmental look drives me to action.

I know I’m not changing a thing, this keeps happening around the world, and my actions here won’t matter in the larger scale. But right now, with everything happening in front of me, my heart takes over my actions and I can’t ignore it. Even if it means I’m foolishly warning the ‘King’ of my presence. Even if it means someone I care about might die from these actions...

Enough thinking! I've made my choice! NOW KILL THEM ALL!

*~*~*

Spells known:
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb.
Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison.

Focus capability: 12 patterns

Social status: Inara, Daughter of Mysteries. Apprentice to the Maven of Mysteries.

Wealth: 1854 Magic Gems. 1421 Golden Peas, 17 Silver Scales, 37 Copper Bits.

Companions:

Languages:
Toml’a <People’s tongue> Fluent
Sinteo <Speech> Fluent
Myrsha <Gravity> 7/10
Felul <Wind> 1/10

Injuries and scars:

2023-04-18 09:10:08 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 72 in color

2023-04-18 09:09:50 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 71 colorless

Author notes:

This chapter is dedicated to Matt.

Thank you for your support! <3

Btw (This applies to all the dedications.) If there’s anyone or anything you want me to add to these dedications let me know.

Chapter 71 The King.

I’m the rain caressing your heads.
I pat on your every roof and window.
Every mortal, animal and plant longs for me.
Yet, everyone drinks me without consent.

Mayan, the Ocean Fairy.

{28} Koshavi (February) the 29th

After a day of travel in the cold forest Lezere and Berthold find us an animal trail, which soon leads to a wider road. We pick one direction at random and spend the next few days on the road, hoping to reach a settlement eventually.

I spend the few days of travel studying and learning a few more basic cantrips of the elements I didn’t cover. I also learn more cantrips of all the other elements, trying my best to recall whatever I can remember from the hag’s library, and come up with ideas for things I might need. Now that I have a grimoire containing all that knowledge, it’s time to fill my arsenal with more spells.

I use the amulet’s mana to practice, and master the few new basic cantrips I learn.

After a few days of traveling by the rainy road, we can see a city downhill by the river. This patch of the forest is cut down in favor of the lumber mills on the river’s bank. Although the winter is cold, there isn’t any snow, so I assume the climate here is warmer than Axero.

We keep advancing toward the city in the heavy downpour. The sky growls and a flash of lightning soon follows. We’ll still need an hour of walking in this rain in order to reach that town. But a warm inn and beds await us there. Finally I’ll be able to take a proper bath!

A gory sight stops me in my tracks. A man impaled by a spear. The tip of the spear pokes out of his mouth, while the shaft is stabbed between his legs, half-buried under the mud. The rain drip down his naked body and a large wet plank is nailed to his chest with the words:

I thought I’m smarter than the King

“A bad way to go…” Salik shakes his head.

We keep walking, there isn’t much we can do. After a fifteen minutes’ walk, we encounter another one. This time it’s a woman. Anything from her waist down is missing and half of her intestines hangs in the open. The plank hanging from her breasts says:

I thought my jar was too good for the King

“A bad way to go…” Salik comments again as we keep moving.

We reach the third one approximately five minutes away from the town’s gates. This poor man had his hands, feet, and testicles cut off. A rope ties him up to a pole by his shoulders, and it seems as if he had bled to death in the rain. The plank hanging from his neck says:

I thought I could steal from the king

These are all fresh! These bodies aren’t here for more than a few days… and if there are three of them it means he executes people every week… Ok “King” I’m taking over your country! The hag wants me to rule over people, and you’re not good to your people anyway. Might as well do some good while accomplishing my task… How convenient for the both of us, huh?

“A bad…”

“A bad way to go. We know! Can you please stop saying that?!” Kolag interrupts Salik with an angry echo, his hand is shaking on the handle of his claymore.

Salik backs off with his hands raised.

“Please tell me we’re taking that bastard down!” Kolag approaches me, leaving Salik alone.

“We do. But we have to be smart about this, I’m not rushing blindly into this. And Kolag. If we see an execution right when we enter the city, do me a favor and hold your urge to hack people!”

He grunts angrily but doesn’t argue.

“Ok people!” I say trying to raise my voice over the rain. “I want us to get in there and find information about this so called ‘King’. I need to know who he is, and what his capabilities are. Anything you hear or see about him, true or false, I want to know about it!”

They nod. Sharla gives a long look at the town behind me, then shifts into a gorgeous-looking blond on par with any of Kynator’s daughters. She smirks and winks at me.

Five minutes later we reach the town’s gates. The wooden wall above the gate has a few spears with humanoid heads mounted on them. Multiple wooden cages hang from the walls near the gates. I spot naked women inside the cages, huddling against the cold rain. Is this a city? Or a bandit camp? It can’t be a bandit camp, there wouldn’t be lumber mills if it was and it's way too large to be a camp…

“Who are you people?” A group of about ten guards appears from within a large guard house at the side of the gate. I assume they used it to take shelter from the rain, but it also prevented us from spotting them before we got too close.

I notice another group of guards on top of the wooden walls, aiming their crossbows at us. “State your business!” The sky booms with thunder, and my dress and coat are drenched by the heavy rain. The clouds hide the sun so well that even the afternoon seem like the middle of the night.

“We’re travelers, passing through. Can you point us to the nearest inn?” I ask, keeping my voice calm. There is no point in making up tall stories here.

“Who’s leading your caravan? Or do you really expect me to believe all of you people follow this little girl?”

Of course, I should’ve thought about it… I do look like I’m too young to lead a caravan or something… and I guess there aren’t many female leaders… That’s a good idea actually, from now we’ll hide who’s truly leading this group… I glance at Salik. I figure he had experience with things like this.

Salik nods at me and steps forward. “That would be me sir. Any problems?”

“Yes. You need to pay the gate tax. That would be a silver per head! Your women are to be sent to our inspector.”

“Inspector? What kind of inspections?” Salik questions, furrowing his thick eyebrows.

“No questions. Or your head will be hanging from the wall tomorrow! If your women resist they’re welcome to join the ones over there.” The guard points at the wooden cages hanging from the walls with an evil grin etched on his face.

What on Lukam have we walked into?!

"How about we pay more taxes to avoid inspections?" Salik plays with his coin purse suggestively.

The guards exchange a few nervous glances with one another, a few steps forward hesitantly but before he can say anything the lead yells. "Did you just try to bribe us?!"

"You must've misheard me kind sir." Salik apologizes.

The guard nods to himself. "Good, because that'll be a crime against the king. You do not want to commit crimes against the king. Females to the right."

I step out of the group to the right. “That’s alright, we’ll meet you at the inn once they’re done with whatever this inspection is.” I intervene before Salik might start trouble. Worst case scenario I could always blow up some heads.

“Can I stay for the inspection?” Salik dares another question. “One of our girls can’t be left alone…”

“One more question from you and I won’t be so nice anymore. Don't make me repeat myself, anyone here with a pair of jugs leave your group!” the guards point their spears at us. Sharla and Lezere join me. Sharla shrieks and hugs me tightly, and the guards laugh, pushing us ahead.

They lead us into the city, toward a large wooden building. The muddy streets look mostly deserted in the heavy rain. I can spot a few people huddling in their coats, sitting below an extended roof of one of the houses. From the their torn winter clothes, I doubt these people even have a place to sleep.

The guards hurry us into the building. Once we’re inside, they close the door behind us and bar it.

It’s a large hall, with multiple mattresses spread on the floor. Half are occupied by women. I can count about fifty of them. Some of the women are awake, talking in low voices or huddling together.

Lezere sits on an empty mattress with a low growl. While Sharla lets go of me and gives me a questioning look.

“Go make friends, see if you can find what this is about…” I mutter under my breath, I know she has an increased hearing.

She nods. Her face and features blur and go through slight unnoticeable changes under her hood. She loses her dazzling beauty in favor of a plainer look, I’m pretty sure her chest lost a few centimeters as well. She takes off her hood and finds her way to the nearest group of women.

Let’s see what we got ourselves into first…

I take a seat near Lezere. Like Loyal, this brutish woman had followed me unquestionably. Why? What are her reasons for doing that? It was one thing when we were back at the tower, bound by necessity, and another when the hag was the one who recruited her. Sharla mentioned something about orcs needing a tribe… that it’s like love for humans… or just socializing?

“Lezere, why do you follow me?” I ask in Toml’a, reverting to my native tongue.

“Who else am I going to follow? You’re my chief!” She takes out her axe and sharpens it slowly, unsettling the few women who notice her actions.

“Why do you consider me your chief?” How does that work exactly?

She clacks her teeth twice. “There are three types of wolves. Those who are strong, and those who follow. You are strong, I follow. The third have directions and wisdom, they are rare. And the rest are sheep and rabbits.” She sneers with contempt.

“Then why follow me? What makes my ambitions, my goals, so important to you? Why did you choose me?”

She stops sharpening her axe and looks me in the eyes. “You do not let mercy and foolishness stop you from ending those who need to be killed. And you do not let pride and fear rule over you. You do not throw your life away for others needlessly like so many humans do.” She raises her chin upward, giving me a view of her muscular neck. “You are wise, and strong, a grand chieftess, a shaman and chief in one body, a worthy chief to follow!”

I sigh. “Trust me… Fear is a common thing in my heart”

“Kaka… In mine too, but you do not let it rule over you. If you did, you’d be dead instead of Adir and Nolan, and I’d have to follow a foolish chief who rules over others with fear.” She exposes her teeth in a snarl. “A foolish chief leads a tribe to ruin.”

I raise an eyebrow. “But would you still follow a foolish chief?”

She clacks her teeth. I am getting the impression that it means to be some form of annoyance, or maybe contemplation? “Only if I have no other chief to follow.”

“Who taught you to think like that? Why not have your own ambitions to follow?” What am I doing? Do I want her to turn on me? No. But I need to understand how she thinks, asking questions won’t change her…

“No one, just how the world is.” She shrugs and goes back to sharpening her axe.

Or at least how orcs are… “Hmmm… Lezere, what do you think about me and Kolag?”

“Kaka… you make a good pair. If you manage to get him out of his turtle shell, you’ll have some fearsome pups.”

“What about you? Would you like to have someone to settle down with one day?”

“Grrrrr... Orcs don’t settle down. We’re wolves, we hunt.”

“I mean, having a man to share your life with.”

She shrugs and puffs on her axe, blowing away some invisible dust. “Only a strong wolf to make fearsome pups. We do not settle down like humans, we fuck, have a litter of pups, and the tribe raises all the pups together.”

I nod. A litter of pups… it seems like orcs give birth to multiple babies at once. Makes sense how they keep their population going with all their deaths… These are silly questions to begin with, did I really think I could have a girl talk about boys with Lezere of all people? I guess I just missed her...

Lezere’s brown eyes focus on me but her hands don’t stop moving the sharpening stone on her axe. “What are we going to do now chief?”

“Now, we’re getting more people to follow me.”

She looks around at the women in the room with a sneer. “Not this group of scared bunnies I hope?”

I can't help but snicker. “Eventually them too. But currently I’m looking for fighting men and women, yes. Or at least those who possess talents…”

Lezere leans her head backward, looking at the ceiling. “Enlarging the pack, that’s a good idea... chief? If someone in the clan proves to be a weakling, send them to me, I’ll make them into wolves!”

It's good to have her with me again... I missed this! “If I need them to be wolves, I’ll be sure to send them to you.”

Sharla comes back and takes a seat on my other side. “The King’s name is King Luard. He’s currently looking for a new wife. He executed the last one two days ago, I believe we saw the unfortunate girl on the road. Soldiers in his territory arrest women and bring them here. The royal inspector is going to pick a woman to entertain the King in a few days. If he likes her, he’ll make her his wife. If he doesn’t, she’ll be executed and he’ll try the next woman the next day until he picks himself a wife.”

Right… a corrupt apprentice mage doing whatever he wants… or an escaped apprentice too lost in his own hedonism… I’m glad I can kill him with a clean conscious…

I cross my hands. “What about the King himself? Any idea what he’s capable of?”

“The women mentioned King Luard is a powerful sorcerer of ice. These women are pretty superstitious. For them, a sorcerer means an all-powerful being close to a god. In fact, some of them treat him as a minor deity of sorts, the kind of deity people make sacrifices to in order to make sure it won’t be angry at them.” Her apathetic voice doesn’t give out any emotion. She doesn’t give me the impression she’s feeling sorry for any of these women, nor does she look down on them, despite her words. This is simply a state of reality to her.

Ice… a water mage. Good to know. “So you’re saying that if I display magic here, people will treat me as a goddess?”

“More like an arch priest, or high nobility. Someone who’s better than the average person. These people have gods. They worship the twelve, and they have another god in addition to the twelve. Here it’s called the thirteen.” She explains in an emotionless tone.

I raise an eyebrow. “You can gather this much from a five minutes’ conversation?”

She smirks and snorts. “I hear a lot, and I can keep track of multiple conversations in this room. For example, the girl seven meters behind you is jealous of your red hair and plans to cut it off tonight when you sleep… want me to dissuade her from that notion?”

“Yes, thank you.” I smile at her.

“Gladly…” She heads toward the group of teen girls who huddle together and giggle on the mattresses behind us.

“I don’t like that snake.” Lezere whispers in Toml’a after Sharla leaves.

“You know she can hear you right? She speaks Toml’a like a native.”

“Grrrr… I don’t care. I told it to her face yesterday. She speaks A’arkalu like a wolf, she is a color shifting snake.”

“I’m sure she loves you too…” I reply sarcastically.

Lezere snorts. “She doesn’t love me at all.”

I curl some of my hair around my finger, eyeing Sharla seem to be making a friendly conversation with the group of teenagers. “I know, that was sarcasm. You don’t have to get along with everyone, but she’s good for our group… For the pack. Not every enemy we have will face us out on an open battlefield. Some may choose an indirect method, and she’s the best when it comes to that type of fighting.”

The half-orc lets out a grunt and lays down on her mattress. “Kittens rats and snakes, cowards all of them!”

“Cowards are a part of the world. And even cowards have their means of fighting. If we dismiss a coward for being a coward, that coward might just poison your drink.”

Lezere shudders. “Graaa! I’m going to sleep!”

“Good night!” I pick the mattress near her. I wish I had brought one of my books, or maybe not, it’d probably get damaged. I want to meditate, but I know that would attract unwanted attention. I guess I can practice some mana pattern mixing to improve my focus capability…

Sharla takes a seat near me again, covering her head with her hood. “She won’t get close to you tonight.”

I eye the girl who averts her gaze with a deep blush. “So, you can hear all the conversations in this hall and separate between them?”

Sharla smiles, full of herself. “Pretty much, and a few conversations outside of this room as well.”

“Show off!”

She switches to Toml’a, her tone and accent change to the one used in my homeland. “Just letting you know my value. I may be a color shifting snake, but I’m a damn useful one!”

“If you heard that, you also heard I know your value all too well.” I sigh, twirling my hair around my finger. “And believe me, seeing you as nothing but a useful tool will be easier for me. But I’d much rather see you as a friend, and your worth as a tool doesn’t matter much to me. Even if you were useless, you have all the worth in the world as my friend.”

“If it will be easier for you to see me as a tool why won’t you?”

“Because it’s wrong and lonely…”

“Then it’s not easier for you.” She concludes with a shrug.

“Maybe not…” I admit. She has a point there…

“We’re taking this King down aren’t we?” She asks with an excited grin.

Is she excited? Or is this an act? How do you know what’s real with her? Is the real her always just emotionless? “Yes.”

“Good! I’ll find my way into his bed chambers tonight, wrap him around my little finger, and give you the best kind of information.” Her features under the hood shift into a dazzling beauty again, I notice that her chest and hips grow by a couple of centimeters as well.

The thought of sending her as a bride had crossed my mind, but I don’t want to risk her. Hearing Sharla offering herself for the job shakes me. I can’t afford to have friends, that’s her job! She’s damn good at it! She can get into this King’s mind and bed without any problems if she wanted!

Yes, she can, but she might die… She might… it’s a risk she’ll have to take… Besides, I bet she’ll feel safer on a mission, much safer than me keeping her close. If I keep her close it means I plan to feed on her, out there she should feel safer…

“How do you know he’ll pick you?”

She lifts her breasts and adjusts her dress. “I already heard the guards, he likes blonds with big tits. When he’ll see these, he’ll lose his mind. I’ve been doing this for years, remember?” She takes a seductive pose, laying down the mattress on her side, and leaning her head on her hand. “Don’t you worry, ma flower! He won’t see any other girl!” Her language switches to Sinteo again, and her accent sounds similar to the women around us.

“Did you already learn their accent? Or knew it beforehand?” I can’t help my curiosity.

“Knew it beforehand. I speak fifteen languages in forty different accents.” Her voice isn’t boasting or gloating, she’s merely stating a fact.

“That’s impressive! Would be nice if you taught me some of these languages, though I don’t care much for the accents…”

She sits up and wraps her hand around my shoulders. She tugs me toward her, and whispers in my ear in a seductive manner. “No problem, lassie. Do I have your ok to seduce our dear King?”

“You have my ok, but be careful! I don’t want to lose you. I hate losing people, and Jerro will lose his mind if you die…”

She drops the accent and turns my head to look at her. Her head is way too close, and her blue human eyes stare directly into mine. She grins, switching the language back to Toml’a. “I’m glad you aren’t trying to keep me close to you like an overprotective mother. That would suck!”

I ignore the intimacy and how close she is. “I figure you can take care of yourself. You’re two times my age, you’ve probably gone through plenty.”

“That’s right!” She has a bright smile on her beautiful face. “I’m glad we agree on something. You’re quite smart for your age.” She pats my head and ruffles my hair in a patronizing manner.

“Thanks. Try not to die.” I ignore the patronizing act. I want to tie her to me in more ways than just an order by the hag. And if letting her get all intimate or patronizing to get under my skin is a way to do it, then so be it.

“You can go to sleep. I’ll watch over you, I’ll make sure none of the scared bunnies here get any weird ideas…” She reassures me.

“Thanks…”

I practice some mana patterning before I fall asleep on the uncomfortable straw mattress.

*~*~*

Interlude 71.1

Kolag.

“We can’t just sit here! We have to rescue them!” Kolag exclaims angrily.

“Yeah but how?” Berthold asks. We can’t just get in there, did you see all those guards?”

He’s right. Kolag ponders how it should be done. Killing the guards is obviously not a good solution, and sneaking can’t be done.

Salik shakes his head. “Kids, patience. The ladies are more than capable of handling themselves.”

“Ah can get in. no prob. They have a nice balco on da second floor.” Ryon notes.

“You may be able to get in kid. But how would you get them out?” Salik asks. “Lezere stands out like a goblin in a ball.”

“Orc not goblin.” Ryon corrects. “She has big jugs, ah beat her, then we snake. Ah get them outa there no prob.”

“There’s no need for that.” Jerro’s apathetic voice stops them. “They’ll be released soon. We should make ourselves comfortable for now. There are various ways this can go down…” The dark haired man massages his temples and winces. “I don’t like all of them hmmm… Old man.” He addresses Salik. Kolag ponders why he calls a man in his 30s old. “Can you go out and get acquainted with the thugs in the temple of Tonisha? We might need the help of adventurers and mercenaries.”

Salik nods. “Sure can, kid.” He leaves without a question.

“You. Rogue.” Jerro addresses Ryon. “Sneak into that building. Give this to Sharlafyn.” He hands him a note. “Make sure no one sees you, it’s very important.”

“Who Sharlafyn?” Ryon frown.

“The blond woman with the biggest jugs.” Jerro answers as if he’s speaking about the weather.

“No prob. Ah gona go now.” Ryon leaves with a wide grin on his face.

Jerro continues. “Hunter. I need you to kill two men in this city. You will be…”

“Who put you in charge, exactly?” Berthold asks with his hands crossed on his chest.

“The Queen did, back in the spider nest. When she’s absent, command falls to me unless she states otherwise.” The man replies coldly.

“The Queen? Yeah she’s not my Queen exactly. And that was for the spider nest. I’m not killing anyone for you or your God of Death. Sorry!” The boy replies crossing his hands on his chest.

“It’s very important that you do. There is a spy that might lead to the old general’s death, or your own death. If you do not kill the spy, I fear some of us may die.”

“Yeah. Look. I get all that babble about seeing the future and all. But I’m not killing anyone on the word of a rotten pea who follows the God of Death. You people are a venomous death cult! You kill people because you decide it's their time to die. Not going to happen! You are not turning me into a death cultist.”

“I agree.” Kolag joins in. “I will not allow the murder of innocent lives based on your possible predictions. You have said you have been wrong in the past.”

“These two men are not innocent,” Jerro states coldly.

“I don’t care if they’re innocent or not. I’m not killing anyone unless I have to defend myself.” Berthold insists.

“You have to defend yourself. You might die if you do not kill them.” Jerro has an apathetic expression etched on his face. "One is a spy who reports our presence to the King, if you won't kill him..."

“I don’t care! We’re safe in this inn, see?” Berthold opens his hands in a wide gesture as he gets up. He heads toward the innkeeper to take care of the tab.

Jerro buries his head in his hands and mumbles. "I should've sent the rogue to kill them... no... he'd get spotted and it'll alert the wrong kind of insignificant person. Only the hunter can snipe these targets from afar. Maybe the old general can make that shot too? But if he doesn't recruit the...

“Will Inara die?” Kolag can’t help but interrupt the odd prophet's mumbles. This man is clearly touched by Tiyadi, the God of Time and Death.

“The Queen? That is possible. But it is possible she might win the battle. If the hunter agrees to kill the man who will endanger her life, she wouldn’t be at risk. But he does not. When the Queen comes back to us, stay close to her. Don’t leave her side no matter what happens. As long as you are nearby, she will win her battle for sure.” The man states coldly. He’s not anxious for Inara’s life, it’s as if he’s merely stating facts. “I’m more worried about the old man, the hunter, and the brute. Their lives are in danger. The Queen will be hurt if one of them dies, too early for her to get hurt again. Things go wrong when she gets hurt again. I want the hunter to kill a spy, a spy that might lead to their deaths. Or maybe not. They may yet live. Too many paths, I can’t see clearly.”

“The old man, the Hunter, and the Brute? You mean Salik, Berthold and Lezere? Why won’t you use their names?” Kolag asks in confusion.

Jerro frowns and Kolag sees some semblance of emotion on his face for the first time, a hint of confusion. “The Hunter, the Brute and the Old General, yes. Names… I don’t always remember names. Only people of note. Forgive me. I can only use Sharlafyn. Names are important, names are for dead and the immortal. Names are for times and places, I can only use names at a certain time or when I talk to the grieving and the fooled.”

“That’s quite alright my good sir…” Kolag nods, he knows what it’s like not being able to use a name. At least Jerro can remember the name of the woman he loves. “Are you sure these two targets are not innocent?”

“I’m sure.” The man states with cold confidence.

"Can I kill them?"

Jerro shakes his head. "No. This will cause more problems. The Hunter can kill them from afar with an arrow, the reason for their death will remain unknown if he does. It is not the same if someone get close to them, especially to the second target."

Kolag nods. “I’ll try and talk to Berthold then.”

*~*~*

Spells known:
Gravity: Alino’s weightless bodyb.
Life: Brigit’s lesser cure poison.

Focus capability: 12 patterns

Social status: Inara, Daughter of Mysteries. Apprentice to the Maven of Mysteries.

Wealth: 1854 gems. 1421 golden peas, 17 silver scales, 37 copper bits.

Items:
Magical necklace. Contain a 100 gems' worth 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.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keep the pouches’ content fresh.
Fresh rose petals, 22g
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. 10/100

Companions:
Lezere of the Black Fang tribe.
Sharlafyn Nettledew.

Languages:
Toml’a <People’s tongue> Fluent
Sinteo <Speech> Fluent
Myrsha <Gravity> 7/10
Felul <Wind> 1/10

Injuries and scars:

2023-04-15 16:50:48 +0000 UTC View Post