‘Who or what the fuck is Zelore?’ I couldn’t help feeling I had just been served another curveball. ‘I really need to find out more simple, basic facts about this damn place.’

The symbol appeared to be an eclipse of the sun, only in the centre of the moon covering our closest star, a skull stared out through empty eyes. All in all, it was quite a creepy-looking thing.

“He is the god of the Underdark, among other things,” Elara comments. “So it’s not that surprising if this was something intended to trigger an early heaving.”

I let out a contented breath. ‘Thanks, lass, you don’t know it, but you just came to the rescue yet again.’

“It certainly seems to corroborate the letter, seeing that in his journal,” I add.

Paolo nods and looks towards me. “You said you were planning on going on towards Stenfield?”

I nod as I continue to try and make sense of the jumble of confusion that is the journal.

“Excellent, then may I give you a letter to deliver to the Laird of Stenfield? We fall under her jurisdiction here, and she will need to be informed.”

“It might also be good for you to escort Naomi,” Vita adds. “She trusts you, and her father, Mr Cooper, has seen both of you prove more than capable of looking after her.”

“I shall speak to her parents later and advise them that she needs to go and find a teacher,” Paolo confirms.

“I am sure we can take the letter,” I agree. “But Naomi? I’m not sure if—”

“Oh hush,” Elara interrupts. “I can manage one little girl, and I can help teach her along the way as well.”

‘Outnumbered and outgunned again, Del,’ I wistfully concede with a nod of assent.

“Fine, we shall plan to leave tomorrow. That gives us today to gather supplies and have another of Donna’s amazing dinners.”

With everything sorted and agreed, I gather up the journal and letter as we get ready to leave.

“I shall have the letter run over to the inn later on today. For now, I need to go see the Coopers,” Paolo tells us. “Vita, could you possibly come with me? You will be able to explain the reason she needs to go far better than I.”

The rest of the day is spent with casual browsing of the market; the atmosphere is, as usual, bustling with the noise and aromas I have come to enjoy.

‘I really don’t miss the hum of traffic,’ I consider as we walk through the square.

We manage to acquire a couple of small tents and some dried foods. I also pick up some fresh fish for Misty. ‘Where has that damned cat got herself off to now?’ I idly wonder.

“I’m going to have a long bath before dinner,” I am informed by Elara, who then gives an overly dramatic sniff. “You could do with one too.” She laughs and dodges away from my playful slap in reply.

Getting back to the Cock and Ball, Elara asks Jake for a bath, and he whistles to get his lad’s attention, and all is soon organised. It’s only a moment before I have a tray heaped with a couple of platters of bread and cold cuts for lunch along with some of the steaming herbal tea that seems so popular here.

“We have a few bits to organise, so I think we will have lunch in our room,” I tell Jake.

He gives a simple nod and gets on with wiping down the bar’s already pristine counter.

As I get to the room, the lad is leaving with his empty buckets and holds the door open for me to enter.

“Thanks,” I acknowledge, and then kick it closed behind me.

I set the tray down, briefly admire Elara’s lithe form as she slips into the deep copper bath, then start to pull out vials from the pouch Vita had given us.

‘Time to see exactly what we have here.’

‘Identify’

Potion of minor healing: A basic healing potion able to heal minor wounds and stop bleeding.‘The four of them will be good when feldspar isn’t enough.’

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Potion of major healing: A powerful potion, able to heal major fractures, restore lost limbs and regenerate damaged internal organs.‘Only the one, but it could prove crucial at some point.’

Potion of Stamina renewal: Restores stamina to 75% of maximum.‘These three will come in handy.’

Potion of minor strengthening: Gives a 40% strength boost for 1 hour.We had two.

I decided to look at the vials Vita didn’t know.

Two remained unidentifiable, but the others were:

Two, Potions of climbing: Climb sheer walls easily; Duration 2 minutes.

Potion of air: Able to remain underwater or in noxious air for 5 minutes.‘I have no idea what we will use these three for, but very useful.’

The final vial I could identify was the most interesting.

Potion of stealth: Become intangible to the point of almost invisibility. Caution; sound is not obscured. Duration 10 minutes or until combat.

[Congratulations, your identify skill has increased to improved identify.]

At that point, there is a small thump as a ginger furball jumps in the window and lands on the floor.

I feel her nudge of greeting as she saunters over to sniff at the bottles.‘So where have you been then, little minx?’ I ask. Giving me a look only a feline can, she loses interest in the potions and heads for the bed.‘Exploring.’ is her simple answer, as if of course. What else would she be doing?

I glance over to Elara, just the top of her head visible over the copper rim.“That water will go cold and wrinkle your skin,” I tell her.

“I know,” she says. “Isn’t that a wonderful thing though? Nothing beats a long soak.”

Having little else to do, and with my just upgraded Identify skill, I decide to take a look at some of the other things we had picked up along the way.

It was disappointing, but most appeared to still be beyond my meagre ability. All except one ring—the first magical ring I had managed to get from the brigand who had slain Lucas.

In appearance, it was overly large and far too gaudy for my normal taste. Its faint tingle of magic was what set it apart when we found it, and fear of a curse had led us to keep it tucked away until we could figure out its use.

I carefully unwrapped it, expecting to get another unidentifiable result as with all the other acquired items.

‘Identify’

Minor ring of holding: A space to hide your stuff, can hold up to 20lb, approximately 2 feet in diameter and 3 feet deep. Items placed in can be retrieved by inspecting the contents.

‘Now we are talking,’ I chuckle.

“You are laughing to yourself again, Del. What have you come across now?” Elara’s voice lazily lifts from the tub.

“I’m not, and who says I found something?”

I watch as her head lifts above the edge to peer at me.

“I am convinced you talk more to yourself than you do to me or Misty,” she tells me with a grin. “Now, what has made you so pleased with yourself?”

“Remember that big, lumpy ring we got from the arsehole who killed Lucas? I have managed to identify what it does.”

Her eyes light up, and with a splash of water spray, she is out of the bath and crouched beside me. “What?” she eagerly asks.

I try not to get distracted by this naked woman dripping water onto the floor beside me.

“It seems it’s some sort of hidden storage item.” I hold it out for her to look at and get up to grab a towel and drape it over her shoulders.

‘Del, you are too much of a fucking gentleman to handle this,’ I briefly close my eyes in mild exasperation. ‘Like fuck, you are just too out of touch and friggin nervous to know how to handle her.’

I have to agree with myself, I contemplate; as I explain what I have discovered with the potions and the ring.

It’s been almost 20 years since my last relationship went south, since then nothing to speak of but the occasional hook-up of two lonely people at a bar.‘And it’s got to be coming up ten years since I last went to a bar.’

“So how does it work?” Her excited question brings me back to the moment.

I glance her way and quickly back at the ring.‘Damnit, girl.’ She was standing, towelling dry, and as I looked up my head was level with her waist.

“From what I can figure, I can sort of probe it with my mind and get out whatever is in there. Putting stuff in it is pretty much the reverse.”

I slide the ring onto my finger and feel a sort of bubbling blip briefly in my gut. That place I was beginning to associate with mana.‘Now let’s see.’

‘Menu.’ Nothing.

‘Contents.’ Nope.

‘Ring?’ This is getting frustrating.

‘Just show me what you are damn well holding,’ I mentally exclaim.

And in my mind, a panel opens, a series of four boxes. Each is labelled with a short item name or description of what it is.

One contains a pile of coins: 15 gold; the next, a pair of Daggers of Venom; a stack of 30 trail rations was in the third, and a letter of passage in the last.

I pulled the letter of passage out after a minute of trying random commands on it.

‘Why don’t these bloody things come with instruction manuals,’ I grouse as I finally pull it out. ‘You daft old soak, when was the last time you ever read a flipping manual?’

“Not much in there,” I tell her as I open the letter.

“What’s that?” she asks as she returns, dressed, to sit beside me.

“A letter of passage, apparently.”

“To the honourable Laird of Stenfield.

The bearer of this missive is on urgent business under the protection of King Reinhold III.

I would urge you to assist him with every haste to pass and continue on to the high mountains.

Please grant him supplies he may need and furnish him with directions for the safest path.

Your humble servant,

Sindar Threll; 2nd Minister to the Council of 12.

“I’m guessing that the supplies in the ring belonged to the original owner of the ring and that our long-dead robbers never figured out this ring's properties.”

Elara nods in agreement. “If they had, then surely what was in there would be long gone and the ring filled with their loot.”

I return the letter to the ring.“Apart from that, there was a bit of gold, some daggers, and trail rations.”

“Well, there is little we can do for the person who the ring belonged to, but when we get to Stenfield, it looks like we have more than one thing to tell the laird,” she observes.

I pull out the two daggers, and they slip neatly into two of the empty spots on my knife bandolier. One can never know when a bit of extra lethality will be useful in this place.

“Let’s go eat,” I suggest.

“Nope, I am going downstairs to have a hot tea. You are not having anything more until you have bathed.”

And with that order, she pinches her nose in dramatic exaggeration and flounces out of the room.

‘Women,’ I sniff my armpits. ‘Seriously, I’m not that bad.’

I shrug off my gear, and shivering as I step into the now cold water, slip into the bath for my own soak time.