Teuila leans over, and giggles while whispering, “I cheated.”
My left brow shoots up curiously in confusion as I mumble, “Huh?”
Teuila grins, glee painted across her face as she admits, “I saw you out of the corner of my eye, you freaked out about the cannonball thing. I dropped its density before punching it. Couldn’t really do that with an enemy, but fun as a party trick.”
Hah, hah! I chuckle as quietly as I can, “Heheh. Te, that’s a hell of a party trick. Jeeze, it’s still impressive no matter what way you slice it My-Wings.”
Teuila grins as she gloms onto me momentarily, before returning to our rather serious attempted murder investigation. I friggin’ love this woman. And there she goes jumping out the window. Yep, love this crazy woman. We’re thirty to fifty feet above some pretty spiky looking shrubbery, but Teuila floats down on her back, with her forearms behind her head. She looks for all the world to be someone going for a mid-afternoon snooze on a lazy river ride. I shake my head incredulously, trying not to laugh out loud. Serious investigation, remember, serious face.
Dippy looks incredibly confused. Not about Teuila’s power, apparently he’s seen her demonstrate it enough. Rather he’s confused on if we should jump out after her. I have a bit better idea than that. I wish I had been starting it sooner. I think it’ll only last randomly somewhere between ten minutes and an hour if I cast it like this. I imbue myself with telekinesis from the staff. I gnaw on my lips as I decide whether or not to tell Dippy before I pick him up and float him down below. It might be funny for a long-term friend who has a similar sense of humor, but Dippy is an anxious person of another species from another planet. I’m not going to do that to him.
I ask, “Dippy, are you okay with me picking you up with my brain to float you down there? I’ve got telekinesis right now, for a short while.”
Dippy sniffs me several times before nodding enthusiastically. That seemed odd. Does he have some kind of mana-scent-sense instead of aura sight? Whatever the case, he seems to trust me, so I gently pluck him off the ground and levitate him through the window. I smoothly drop him gently to Teuila’s waiting arms. She gives me the slyest nod of approval I’ve ever seen. I can’t help grinning and shaking my head incredulously as I hoist myself out the window telekinetically as well. I don’t lower myself to the ground though, as I’ve already spotted something suspicious from the air, and it would be much harder for me to get back up. My telekinesis doesn’t like raising things vertically for some reason.
I press my index finger to my lips, and point northwestward. Dippy sniffs the ground, and agrees, also pointing northwestward. Zippy actually lands on my shoulder momentarily, and I could swear the little drake nods his head affirmatively.
I take off at the agonizingly slow speed of a casual stroll, while Teuila jumps Dippy over the exterior manor walls. She lands silently on the rooftops of the dwarven city below, and peers around, not able to track what I’d spotted. Dippy however points accurately for her. He’s a hell of a tracker. I think more likely a ranger after all. The wand seemed like a petrified twig, and his tools were fletching equipment, and, well, stuff that could be used to craft miniature ballistae or ammo for various ranged weaponry.
Huh, this side of town is a tad dilapidated. I wouldn’t expect that from an otherwise pristine dwarven city. Actually, it seems to be entirely abandoned. I wonder what happened here. Still, the figure I’m chasing has ducked into a pretty obvious hideout. I can make out some of the runes on what’s left of portions of the building and its surrounding structures. Hellridge. Judging by other houses in the area, it’s either the house name, or a family name. Cool, though mildly unfortunate, names aside, I wonder how it came to pass that their home ended up like this. Teuila and Dippy have beat me to the interior of the Hellridge family home, and I can tell they’re swiftly sneaking about inside. I however, lower myself onto the balcony that I thought I’d spied a figure on earlier. Freeing myself from my telekinesis, I prepare to use it on any figure that enters my sensory ranges that isn’t Teuila, Dippy, or Zippy.
There’s a startled clatter, and shouting, and sure enough, someone that isn’t my allies comes hurtling my direction, landing squarely in my telekinetic grip. The figure looks only momentarily shocked before they begin struggling against my spell. Ow, ow this, ow. She’s a dwarven woman, and strong as all hell. She’s straining my telekinesis so hard as she tries to break free, it feels like muscles tearing across my brain. She manages to break free, shattering my hold, and what feels like a portion of my brain as a migraine lances behind my left eye. Still, before she can even take another step once she’s landed, I reapply my hold on her. While she continues to struggle against this one as well, it’s obvious she’s winded from the first escape. Still, in a contest of wills, I’m not certain I’d bet on me in this scenario, if I didn’t have backup coming.
As I hear Teuila and Dippy swiftly approaching, I telekinetically shunt the woman into a corner of the ceiling, holding her tightly against the roof of the room. Before they arrive, I ask, “Why did you kill her?”
I want to see if she knows Frannie is still alive, or if she’ll slip up and admit to the attempted murder, or anything.
The woman coughs and asks, “Would yous believe if I said technically it was exsanguination what killed her, not me?”
I almost laugh. That’s smooth, suave, and sort of funny. Just what kind of criminal is this woman? I raise my eyebrow and wear a half frown.
She mutters, “Tough crowd. Look, maybe we can comes to some sorta arrangement or somethin’, yeah?”
I heave a sigh as my companions appear while I’m shaking my head. I continue, cluing them in on my ruse, “You killed an innocent woman, I’d like to know why, it was obviously premeditated, there must have been some good reasons. If they’re good enough, maybe we can help you after all.”
She struggles still, but pants as she replies, “You sees this place? You knows what my name is? I’m Hellga, Hellga Hellridge. Aint gonna be no more Hellridges if that marriage happened. I had ta stop it, it was for family, ya sees? I’d do anythin’ for family, wouldn’t yous?”
Ouch. Another smooth strike by our criminal Hellga. That hits hard. Yeah, yeah, I would, and have, killed to protect my family. Crap. I heave a sigh as I slowly lower her towards the floor. Teuila and Dippy help me stand in a wary semi-circle, hemming her in.
I nod as I agree, “I, well. Yes. I would, and have, done horrible things for the sake of my family.” Hell, I’ve died for them, but I’m not going to tell her that. I continue, “Even still, there had to be another way beyond murdering a seemingly innocent woman. Were there truly no other options?”
She hems and haws before answering, perhaps deciding how much of the truth to lean on, “My baby brothuh, he fancies Freddie, yeah, Freddie, Fredrick Diggle, Frannie’s fiance. I figgyah, now he got a shot. If the Diggles kowtow to the Don, Hellridge loses our last support, we become the odd family out, no one else defyin’ the Don. Can’t have that marriage happenin’ none. Don’ll grind us into dust or bring us under thumb, or both.”
Before I can even digest her reasoning, she finally adds, “Plus, hey, he done us all a bit bad, so hit ‘im right where it hoits too. Three boyds with one stone. Capisce? Now, I do this thing for my family, but I don’t wanna bring trouble to their house or nothin’. I figure, you three seem like some kinda bigwig adventurers, gotta be powerful to be hangin’ with the Don. I’m headed out, you’re headed out, you’s all relatively cute ‘n’ stuff. We could maybe have some fun skippin’ town? If ya know what I mean.”
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Wait, is she seriously trying to seduce her way out of being captured? I mean, she’s a gorgeous lady, being a dwarf doesn’t stop that, but she’s a, in her own eyes, murderer. To us, an attempted murderer. I’m pretty sure she can tell none of the three of us are interested. She bats eyes at us for several moments, as we wait for her to come along peacefully. Her shoulder sag, her face droops and she finally relents as she begins walking towards us lamely, seemingly ready to face justice. A glint of steel, warning from my danger wraps, and Teuila’s immediate leap to action speak otherwise.
Teuila dodges the attack with uncanny speed, grips the stout woman’s arm and twists it behind her back with a sickening snap. Te blushes, not having intended to use enough force to break dwarven bones. Oof. She really is still getting even stronger yet. Even with her little orbity gems hidden in her hair, I wouldn’t have expected her to have so much force she would underestimate herself that much. She put a little too much force into things when she first got them, but that was so long ago now.
I frown as I re-capture Hellga in my Telekinesis. I state, “Hellga, if you had found us first, we could have helped you, would have found some way to help your family. Murder is the worst option, always. I don’t know what kind of justice happens in dwarven society, but we have to turn you in. I’m so sorry. Worse, I lied. Frannie might still be alive, if the Don acted fast enough as I told him to. The marriage is still going to happen, Diggles and Derbrightmine union or something I guess. I’m truly sorry for the Hellridges.”
She looks simultaneously ashen-faced, and as if I had struck her with a gauntlet as her jaw hangs low in shock. I ask, “Please, if there is anything you can think of a group of adventurers being able to do for your family, tell me, if I can somehow save them from a bad situation, I will. I swear.”
Her face contorts as she looks my way, “What? Why would yous guys do that?”
Teuila grins proudly as she interrupts, “We’re not just adventurers, we try to be good guys. Maybe even heroes when we can manage it. Sometimes we fail, miserably, or start at the wrong end of things. We need the Don in our pocket to keep the kobolds safe. Sorry too Hellga.”
Hellga spits in anger and frustration before tears begin streaming down her cheeks as she growls, “Ya think yous guys have failed? I let my whole family down if she aint dead. Worse, the family name’s gonna be smeared, tarnished, run through the ringuh. I done granited up so bad. Granite all.”
Ugh, this hurts. This sucks. Also, granite is a curse? Oh, I guess it is a pretty cheap, common stone. Dwarves probably think of it about as highly as humans think of feces. Technically she didn’t kill anyone, yet, if Frannie manages to live. But we really, truly need the Don’s guarantee that he’ll leave the kobolds alone. There are children, hatchlings that are getting sick without the right nutrients. I strike the nearest wall, and surprisingly, accidentally ram my fist through it. I facepalm in frustration.
I apologize, “I, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to damage your family home. I’m, I’m just so pissed at this situation. Can you think of anything we can do for your family?”
Tears of anger at herself streaming down her cheeks, she growls, “Aint nothin’ yous can do unless yous can get the Don to agree to leave my family outta it. They didn’t know nothin’ about me doin’ this. I’d beg yous if I thought yous could do that for them.”
Teuila and I exchange a glance. How big of an ask can we make of the Don? Which is the bigger ask? The safety of the Hellridges? Or the safety of the Kobolds? Eff a duck. We literally have three wishes. Crap on a cracker.
I try to connect with Hellga one last time, “Hellga, I need to know, I need to know how you feel, how you felt when you thought you killed Frannie. How you feel about being a killer.”
Hellga’s face contorts further, “Granite all, why yous gotta go an’ ask somethin’ like that? Shale. I felt like shale. Frannie weren’t doin’ no one no harm. She been nice to everyone, ever, all the time. I, I.” Hellga loses her voice as tears overtake her.
I barely manage to find my own voice as I struggle to suppress tears, “Glp. Koff. Erm, Hellga. If you come clean, if you admit this, your feelings like this, to the Don. I’ll do everything in my power, if the Don upholds his agreement, I’ll use my ask of the Don for your family. I need to know exactly what to ask for though.”
She coughs and gulps, fighting back mucus from her position suspended slightly at an angle, drooping. She struggles to gaze towards me with tear-streaked eyes, “W,what? Yous can’t be serious? Yous gonna get an ask, an ask of the most powuhful dwarf evuh. You’d toss it to my family? Yous gotta be eithuh lyin’ or outta ya mind.”
I chuckle and grin, “Well, I can tell you for sure I’m not lying, but, heh, I won’t confirm or deny that second one.”
She actually barks a laugh through her tears. Coughing, she agrees, “Okay, yous gotta do this this way though, but yous got a deal. I don’t mind whatevuh’s comin’ for me, so long as yous word it just right.”
Hellga fills us in, and I have to hunt through her house for abandoned writing supplies, since I can’t commit it to memory with my shoddy memory. Thankfully, there are some charcoal sticks and parchment sheets in an old cubby.
Hauling her, suspended in the air, through the streets of the dwarven city is a somber affair. My heart aches for her. I’ve been in such similar circumstances. I don’t know if the Don is going to kill her, have a trial for her, throw her in a jail or a dungeon. I have no idea how ‘the family’ operates. Hellga fills me in on the prototype gun on the way. It uses ambient mana that the wielder has stored up, instead of gun powder, so all it needs is ammo, rather than packing, and it’s silent too. She figured, no noise, no gunpowder on her hands, no evidence. Not a bad assumption, but it makes her look all the worse for having planned it over the course of a week, since the prototype went missing several days ago, by her own admission.
The way it sounds though, it takes about all the mana that can accumulate in your body over the course of a day just to fire it once. Not exactly efficient for adventuring purposes. It’s really only good at assassinations. Oof. Plus, we’re turning it over as evidence, and it belongs to Paulette. With Paulette’s strange behavior, and how she acknowledges Hellga, I have the tiny faintest hope that there’s some sort of conspiracy going on behind the scenes, and everything will turn out to have been a big farce, and everyone goes home laughing. I know that’s not going to be the case though.
I have to shut my brain off as we turn her over and she admits her actions to the Don while trying to convince him she acted on her own, without involving her family. I can’t bear to watch. I don’t want to know if they kill her. I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t try to save someone so earnest that I knew was going to die.
Words are exchanged, but I’m so numb I barely register what was being said. Dippy asked for the dwarves to leave the kobolds alone though, I’m positive about that.
Teuila does what I’d like to be able to do, “Same for me. Double down on that. I want the kobolds safe, and able to eat their own, uh, produce, whatever, minerals. Capisce?”
The Don looks fairly surprised, and asks, “Are yous sure about this girly? Yous can have anything yuh heart desires within my powuh. And that’s yuh ask?”
Teuila nods in confirmation, “Hell yeah it is.”
The Don sighs and nods. He eyes Teuila with some manner of curiosity, and perhaps respect as he wearily states, “The dragons are gonna be furious, my pool says Terrorzin will rain unholy torrents of pain and death down upon my peoples. We’ll withdraw from the surface entirely, seal ourselves off. It’ll buy us time to shore up our defenses, band together. Tell yuh lizardskin, hm, kobold friends to do the same.”
His what? Pool? Like a betting pool? No, he wouldn’t take over a society and drive another one into the ground over a bet. Would he? What if it’s more like, a scrying pool, or divining pool. Hell on handrails I really want to use my ask for time with such an artifact. Huff. No. We promised Hellga. I gasp and sigh shuddered breaths, barely restraining sobs as I hand over the parchment when he’s about to ask me for my ask. I can’t even bear to make my ask aloud. Not when I’ve just doomed Hellga to whatever fate he has in store for her.
He raises an eyebrow at me, and I nod. He drops his forehead wearily to his right hand, resting it, shaking it incredulously as he states, “Fine, so be it. Yous done us alright, we’re already in for a fight. Don’t matter none who’s under whose name anymore anyhow.” He wearily sighs and motions for us to leave him as he sits upon his lonely throne.
Wait, what else did he say? DragonS, plural? Huh, things are starting to get really interesting around here. We’re already being marched out by the same capo who led us here in the first place. Frannie’s wedding has to be postponed since she’s in an iron lung, and will likely be in there for weeks or months. So we don’t really have any business sticking around, even though she invited us, total strangers. Hellga was right, nice to everyone, ever. We stop by to pick up Teuila’s pack from the interrogation room where we had to leave it on the way in. The capo gives a grunt of approval, recognizing Teuila’s strength as she hoists it effortlessly, not knowing about her gravity powers.
But I almost feel bad leaving Frannie though. Before we know she’s for sure healed and okay. She’s not Can’Z’aasian, she doesn’t regenerate crazily fast. Dippy’s nature magic with the petrified wood wand really only can temporarily plug holes that are bleeding. It’s like an advanced form of packing a wound, really cramming in like the perfect moss compound or something. It’s not going to regenerate tissue though. They’re going to have to keep an eye on her lungs to make sure they don’t fill with fluid, blood mostly. She’s in for a tough battle to survive, but I think Fakeworld fantasy was right about dwarven heartiness. They seem fairly resilient. Hopefully she pulls through.