Corvayne sat up straighter in his chair when he heard Lady Blood Claw say she had worked for The Magus. He wanted to immediately ask her about him, but it would side track Wick's garage meeting so he decided to wait until they wrapped up.
Wick, however, wasn't nearly as patient and turned to him. “Hey Corvayne, wasn't that guy trapped in your village?”
Corvayne nodded. “It could be the same person. All I really know is he wore all green, had a three eyed mask, and was difficult to listen to when he spoke.”
Lady Blood claw leaned so far forward she nearly fell out of her chair, eyes changing color from gray to vibrant purple as her skin changed to lemon yellow. “You trapped him? Tell me what happened!” Her excitement caught him off guard.
Corvayne shrugged and related the short version of living in the village of the watchers and getting pissed off enough to break into the wizard's home. His description of getting lost got a snicker out of Nyxion, but he ignored it and finished up his story.
“... I was disoriented until I stumbled out to the road, but it lead me into town and I met Wick and Grunt. That was over three weeks ago. ”
Lady Blood Claw listened patiently then replied. “Since you were near him... I'd wager he did curse you at some point. Though it's odd, one of his biggest faults The Magus had was he couldn't sit still. I didn't think there was anything strong enough to contain him anywhere either. Still, finding someone else that ran afoul of him in some way...”
Corvayne picked up on a small contradiction. “I thought you said you worked under him. But you're acting like you were enemies?”
Her expression soured a little. “Yes to both. I was an apprentice until one day he told me to try out a pod he looted from a ruin, then I woke up somewhere entirely else where my race and shifting skin have cut me off from others.” A hint of bitterness crept into her voice as her skin shifted from a light yellow to sky blue.
“Well, I think you have nice skin.” Corvayne said as she looked like she was self conscious about it. For some reason this made Hari elbow him, and Wick was rolling her eyes. Lady Blood Claw herself turned a dark blueberry color.
“Watch your mouth you philanderer!” She looked angry now. Corvayne guessed that counted a mission accomplished for pulling her out of a funk.
Mosh called out from the workbench he was working at, “Don't hate Boss! He can't help it.”
Nyxion clapped his hands together. “Well now, at least you have a good candidate for both sparring and wrestling afterwards!”
She turned red and swatted at him, missing the laughing noble. “Piss off Nyx!”
Wick put two fingers in her mouth and whistled. She picked up the brass and emerald object. “Hey! Focus. Do you know why the Magus wanted this artifact?”
Lady Blood claw composed herself and her skin turned charcoal. “I can't tell you details because I honestly don't know what it is or what it did. It was an on and off again task for me and the other apprentices, and he expected to find it around or in a bunch of ships. I assume it was part of an organization we had conflicts with called Infinitus, but I never went toe to toe with them.” Her skin shifted back to a lemony color. “Does the name Infinitus ring any bells? Corvayne? Wick?”
Corvayne looked to Wick, who turned to look at him. He spoke first. “It's the first I've heard of it.”
Wick shook her head. “News to me.”
Lady Blood Claw sighed, skin reverting back to a darker gray as she accepted Wick passing the artifact to her. “This probably means there's a fleet buried out there. Or they've been mining degraded Infinitus cruisers for years.”
Wick shook her head. “I doubt that. Even as stubborn as people are about the paranormal, they are not dumb enough to look a gift spaceship in the mouth. Also there's not been significant rain in that desert for a long, long time. If there's a big fleet somewhere out in the desert its going to be intact and I can probably find it. I have a sixth sense that's always served me well.”
Nyxion beamed. “I'd be greatly in your debt if you can walk out into the desert and get us a ship from an untold advanced civilization. Or fifteen ships.”
Lady Blood Claw leaned back, shaking her head. “I've tried to dampen his expectations. Most long forgotten ruins are just stones. Most 'alien artifacts' we've found on empty worlds are tools you could get better version of at a hardware store. If there's a huge pile of super valuable ships out in the desert, they would have found it in survey data when they were parceling out land to be sold. Though, the mine might be a rift ruin.” She turned and looked at Corvayne. “I assume you know something about them given your quasi magical powers.”
Corvayne shook his head. “I'm not that experienced. That being said, the word rift makes me think we are thinking about the same thing.”
Wick nods. “You could call it our source for supernatural weapons. It also sometimes gives us high tech objects.”
Nyx perked up at this. “Your own private mine? Lady Blood Claw had told me that our enemies probably had places they were using to fuel their powers, or find items to do so. Their own private rifts.”
Wick smiled. “Something like that. It's not as secure, but it hasn't been as obviously claimed as the mine is.”
The noble laughed. “Well, that's nice but I really want ships, and you want... my money?” He then made a gesture as if throwing coins out.
Grunt raised his hand. Sure, I'll take it.
Wick raised her hand as well. “That, and more... it'd be nice to have a better fake identity. But yes. I need money. Ideally the kind a young bored noble has. To make a bunch of odd purchases. Especially land. I assume you can do it without attracting attention. As in, bringing a bunch of empire officials around asking me questions?”
Corvayne had a thought about a dozen power-shielded bounty-hunters all converging on Cascadia trying to capture Nyxion. He'd be pretty pissed off if the noble told them he was dragging people after him.
“I'm not drawing off the funds I got from the Myrell, which was an allowance and would be more conspicious. I have plenty of quiet funds. But I want to know that I'm spending my father's war chest well.
Wick looked around. “I'm not at the stage of picking a fight with the Collective yet, so I doubt we are thinking of the same level of funding. I want to work together and get better footing, as in, I want to be strong enough nobody will fuck with me. You want to be strong enough to fight Goule. So for me that means magic and money, for you it's magic and ships and supporters. I have no supporters...”
Nyxion laughed at that then swept his hand around the room. “People listen to you. Even out here, talking about what, land locked sea monsters? Weather balloons? Black helicopters? Who makes helicopters anymore?”
Wick's expression darkened, and Nyx realized he was being an rude, for once, and held up his hand. “I mean it in jest. Let's go back to what we need and want. You need my money and... better information. But if you don't want to help me with gathering support... my biggest problem.”
Wick folded her arms and sat back. “It's where we will likely branch apart. I'm aiming to be safe. I'd rather keep a low profile. Yes, the meetings I host go against that. We all need a hobby. You want revenge and to what, have me help you whip your peers into a frenzy?”
Nyx looked down at his lap then looked up. “I inspire confidence but I need loyalty. I think you can handle that... Wick.”
“I'm not whoring myself out to do public speaking. Or the other way, sleeping with a bunch of spoiled brats, while we are talking about that.” Wick was frowning at him.
Lady Blood Claw put a hand on Nyx's knee, stopping him from what looked liked a snide comment, then turned to Wick. “We need people. Even just this crew, but we need help.”
Nyx cleared his throat. “Yes. I need help. You have at least two very capable fighters.” He nodded at Corvayne, then over at Hari.
The elf blinked and looked over her shoulder. Corvayne felt the same way. It felt weird to see the cocky man take a serious tone.
Nyxion leaned forward. “Let's get into what we are trading. You have a good team. You are willing to give me manpower, which I need, but want to sell magic. I can't buy it. More to the point, I have a garbage bags full of magic. I have my own wizard-knight who can't teach others her trade! Don't either of you glare. I want you to convince me... You realize that most of the stuff won't help me? You can't embargo a planet with a sword.”
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Corvayne half hoped Wick would agree they had no avenue to trade, stand up, and walk Nyxion out the door.
Wick smiled. “Oh you have those garbage bags, but is any of it good? We have an expert who can sort through it and tell you what the things that are not weapons are used for. Sooner or later you will have to fight Goule. You said yourself, a gun just won't cut it. A magic sword that turns him to hot slag might. With less collateral then firing an orbital barrage into the imperial palace.”
“Or I can just experiment with my haul.” Nyx countered. “Perhaps I have two swords of lava.” He paused, frowned, then waved a hand.
“It's pointless to argue about that. If I strike him down as an assassin or part of a group of them? I'm seen as a coward. I picked ships because of perception. Ambushing his ship and escort ships strike the peerage as different, an act of war instead of murder. Now, if I could win a duel? That would be the best, of course. Unless you can get me the same sort of cheating he applies when he just pops back to life.”
Wick summoned a disrupt orb, letting the green mist swirl on her finger. “That is not off the table, Nyxion.”
The man started at the green glow at the tip of her finger, tracing it with his eyes as she waved it back and forth, then looked up, his eyes gleaming. “Oh Wick. Why didn't you lead with that?”
Corvayne woke looking at dark wood beams above him and someone banging on the door. He had a moment of confusion until he remembered he wasn't at the warehouse. He was at a factory they had been turning into a home. The knocking continued while he sat up. No, a knock was a polite sound, a rap rap rap of knuckles. This was someone's hand deciding it was time to start a war with his door. Not that he didn't have a guess who. He made sure he had pants on, threw on a shirt, then opened it. Lady Blood Claw stormed in, forcing him to take a step back. She had workout clothes, favoring gray. That just made her skin red-orange color stand out more.
“Corvayne! I wish to train.” She barked as if he didn't know.
Corvayne stole a glance past his short bed to the clock in the room. No normal person would wake up at five in the morning and want to start fighting.
“Sure, lets spar... I mean after we...” He trailed off, having gotten used to a certain perk of living near Miss Blood Claw.
She nodded as she knew exactly what he was after. “Breakfast.”
He followed her out of his room onto the railed walkway. He could look down and see the large open space they had set aside as their dojo, harsh florescent lights shining on a white foam mat pulled across a smooth concrete floor. It was blemished around the mat by a few lines of fading paint and markings where machines had been bolted to the floor. He stepped around a tarp laying across the walkway, hiding a room that he had been working on fixing with Hari and Mosh. He entered a hallway to the side, pushed a bar door open and walked down the stairs to the ground level. The hall on the ground floor smelled like a mix of industrial cleaner and a floral spray scent that Lady Blood Claw insisted on. Clean linen, according to the bottle resting on two stacked metal desks. He passed by a few old fabricators as well, bearing Mosh's post-it notes on their bulky rectangular sheet metal forms. Green, red, and yellow tagged which ones to fix, sell, toss.
Lady Blood Claw walked past the training mat to another wing of the building, light spilling over the dark forms of machines they didn't need to rip out. She walked through a wide opening into a kitchen Mosh had spent an entire day restoring, and then gestured to a pair of steaming plates sitting on the wood work bench they had re-purposed to a standing table. The smell of ham and eggs and pancakes coming from two plates made him smile. His new sparring partner was both relentless about training and considerate.
“Thank you Lady Blood Claw. Looks delicious.” He said to her before walking over to a huge refrigerator, opening it up, then pulling a flask of orange juice from the mostly empty shelves inside. Her skin faded from a deep orange to a more pink shade as he filled her cup then his own. Miss Blood Claw probably had been Nyx's cook, as the tall woman seemed to like getting up and making everyone breakfast. Two plates sat on the paint splattered wood counter next to the fridge. Hari and Mosh would have to re-heat theirs unless they woke extra early today. He knew Grunt would text Lady if he was going to show up for breakfast before he fell asleep. That happened twice over the last two weeks. He might see Wick for lunch. Today was her meeting, so she probably was still up preparing.
It was a little frustrating that she stayed in her old apartment, given they had rented or bought such a big building. Well, it was one of the factories closer to the two apartments, and she had come over five or six times to jog with him, as well as sometimes other things. Last night they had taken a shower together in a cavernous stall that he was pretty sure had some industrial function. He had put two stools together and sat back to back with her, just letting the warm water flow over them. Not that the sex before that had been bad at all, but he liked when Wick talked through her day with him, or was just there. She had been spending a lot of time with Nyxion, selling and plotting, as well as trying to meet with someone from the provincial government to buy something.
He pushed down rising loneliness as he tried the pancakes. Nice and fluffy, and the eggs she had made were creamy and had just the right amount of salt. He'd compliment the cook, but then she would yell at him for 'trying to flirt'. Maybe that was LBC's way of joking with him? He looked up at her and saw she was looking at him, skin moving from bubblegum pink to a light purple color as she looked out the doorway to the dark factory floor and the rows of machines catching the light spilling out of the kitchen. If he had any say in their next home, he'd push for less metal and brick, and maybe more wood. He'd also push for more Wick.
Something about staring out at the barely lit gray forms in the abandoned factory made him imagine for a moment he was out there, standing in a gap, also untouched and forgotten. He knew the feeling he would have, looking at light and life and people eating together from out in the dark. He had been alone. He'd be alone again.
He took a moment to calm himself down. He had seen her what, ten hours ago? First, this wasn't unexpected. Grunt and Mister I had both told him she fell into projects hard. She would get the money, do whatever she was planning, then fall out of her mania and pay more attention to the world again. Second, when he got worked up it seemed to summon Hari. Maybe not now since it was so early, but it felt like she knew. He wouldn't put it past Wick to have pulled the elf aside and formed some sort of rotating schedule to keep him busy. On that thought, it might be a good day to finish training early and go find Mister I. He'd been meaning to try talking things out with the monk. He was pretty convinced the fellow had a thing or two to teach him about juggling women.
He shrugged and dug into his meal. He appreciated that LBC, as Nyx often called her, didn't talk much. He especially appreciated that she wanted nothing more then to spar with him or train with weapons. That meant less time fending off Hari. It also kept him out of his own head, lest it be covered in lumps after the tall alien thrashed him. That all being said, he got the feeling she wanted to ask him something, and was biding her time.
With breakfast finished Lady put Mosh and Hari's portions away while Corvayne cleaned the plates and put them on a drying rack. Mosh's first attempt at a dishwasher had been a rare miss that cost them a set of plates.
He followed Lady Blood Claw out of the kitchen and back to the sparring mat. He could see the clouds out of the second story windows were brightening. She went over to the rack of weapons and selected her standard two handed wood katana. He decided to practice his short sword fighting, grabbing two toy wooden swords that had been weighted with lead. Mosh had insisted on getting the density to match the blue metal they found in the tower.
Corvayne twirled the blades in his hands and stretched. “No magic, no shadow hands?”
The alien woman rolled up her sleeves, pink skin blossoming into charcoal gray in a matter of a moment. “It's not a fair fight if I don't get to haste myself.”
“Fine, one spell.” He settled into his form, blades held in a loose cross in front of him. Lady Blood Claw bowed to him, and he bowed back, then she charged forward with a barrage of slashes. Corvayne pushed aside three then on the fourth he slapped her blade wide and thrust, poking her in the chest with the tip of his wood blade.
They reset, and Lady Blood Claw opened with another barrage of attacks. One swing ended short and she thrusted then threw her blade wide and took one of Corvayne's weapons with it. Corvayne had to block frantically against her longer sword, hungry to land a solid hit. He felt his hand sting and backed away as she pulled her wood sword back. His loss.
He picked up his swords, not disappointed in starting off even. Miss Blood Claw was exactly who he should be sparring to stay sharp. Grunt, after all, wasn't really about finesse with his methods. He clearly had experience under his belt with his baseball bats. Hari was still finding her style, so training with her was about helping her be a little more efficient with the weapons she preferred. That and she'd get really shy when he was earnestly instructing her, which meant later she'd double down being aggressive. He didn't understand what the weird flip-flop was.
“Ready?” Lady's stern voice snapped. He held his wood swords in front of him and nodded.
LBC attacked and Corvayne parried another five attacks but got clipped on the arm trying to close to finish her off. He was coming to appreciate the tall colorful alien because she didn't seem to have the weird baggage anyone else in the group had. Himself included.
He called out. “Nice one.” Then reset. There was the pounding of feet on the mat as they met again, this time she landed a clean hit almost right away. Then they reset and he tried to roll around her and got hit when she pivoted.
“Use your skills.” She urged him.
He nodded and spun his double blades. He activated [Cross Skill: Flow-Like-Water] and tried to trip her up. She was getting good at dodging and hitting him once the blurring effect ended. Her own magic that made her faster let her keep up, and once she knew that attacking during it was useless it was harder to create an opening. He used the same move three times and got tagged coming out of the third, her wood blade this time disarming him then hitting him in the collarbone. If she had her real sword that strike would take his head.
They reset. He used [Cross Skill: Storm Thrust] as soon as she moved to attack, slashing with both blades and blasting her with wind. She rolled with it and came out with her wood blade ready as he charged. Corvayne ran into the sword hard even as he tried to pivot away. His side flared with pain and he staggered back. He didn't fall to the mat but he held up a hand to take a moment. She stood slowly and waited as he walked a few circles on the mat.
A few deep breaths and they reset. She sprinted at him, slashed to knock his weapons low and thrust into his shoulder.
Next reset, she ducked under him overextending and tapped him on the leg.
Next, he was a little short and she hit him hard in the chest with her longer reach.
Next. He disarmed her after two exchanges but she rolled and got her weapon. He had not been ready for the disarm to work. She slapped his arm with her recovered weapon.
Next. Her first attack was a swipe that knocked both blades out of his hands. She didn't even bother following through, instead setting her sword on her shoulder.
“What's wrong? You don't seem as focused today.” LBC frowned and her skin faded from charcoal to a teal color with splotches of green creeping across it. Corvayne grabbed the blades.
He felt himself blurting out what he had been trying not to worry about. “Wick's been spending a ton of time with Sir Augustus. I feel left out in the cold.”
The teal color in her skin solidified as a hint of a smile crossed her lips. “Nyx is picky about women. I don't think you have to worry.” LBC gestured to herself. “He's left me alone for example.”
Corvayne heard just the faintest amount of emphasis on me. Maybe Nyxion turned her down at some point. “What's his type?”
“Noble ladies? Their filthy minded maids? In general he likes bossy women.”
That didn't help much. Wick had something going on with her past and the government and it was entirely possible she was some sort of wayward noble. Or a wayward maid. She was bossy too. He looked up and saw that she looked a little uncomfortable.
“You done moping?” The tall shifting skin woman's skin was a faint orange.
“Yeah. For now. Let's keep going.”
She shifted her skin to a pinkish color a moment before it dipped back into a charcoal color. Corvayne performed as promised and in the next five exchanges landed four hits with the practice weapons to Lady Blood Claw's one hit. They took a break to drink from one of the five water coolers lined up next to the practice weapons.
Next Corvayne continued to gave her advice image training. Wick had pitched the idea of him helping Lady in developing a technique, which the woman had jumped on. Sadly, while it looked like a sword, the weapon she was using wasn't really a katana, sword of either the short or long variety, nor did it count as a two handed blade. Lady Blood Claw generally had a good poker face but she looked like a wet puppy when he told her that she couldn't use [Circle of Death] with it.
LBC had folded her legs and laid her sword across her black leggings, eyes and skin both shifting colors as she stared a the blade. She kept the weapon off, of course, and plugged in. He wondered exactly how long you had to plug it in to swing it around for a minute, as the batteries he'd seen on other devices didn't impress him. Maybe it was enchanted by her? Or was the sword something they found near the tube?
He turned his own attention back to the cleaver he had looted off the multi-legged undead horror. It felt like a good tool to have in his arsenal, as his go-to tool for fighting large slow monsters. He used his spear for anything that required finesse, he could use the rapier or fire breathing dagger for crowd control, and he had a pistol as a decent ranged option. Okay, it was horrifically weak compared to sidearms his village used, so he perhaps should spend more time with a bow or carry some hatchets to facilitate [Whirling Axe].
The problem was becoming how much he could pack. Yes, he could carry his spear across his pack, rapier holster at his side, dagger tucked into a hip holster, and usually when he needed the cleaver he was fighting something large and slow enough he could have it on his back and draw it out of his pack. Some of his time between jogging or sparring he had been getting his arms used to grabbing the right weapon before he needed it. He couldn't get them to hand him a pistol ready to fire as fast as a cowboy, but he was getting better at switching while running. So then, once he had that down what could he add? A hatchet for whirling axes, maybe side of the hips?
He felt envy for anyone who only needed one weapon type and no backups. Wizards just need one stave or wand! Everything's a nail for hammerlord who only uses hammers! Yeah he could use his spear for a hammer. So what?
Wick shouting cut through his thoughts. “Corvayne!”
So much for calm meditation. He turned to the dark room and saw Wick run around the corner. Nyx was behind her a moment later. She must have been wearing her boots of running because she got in his face almost instantly. Her hair was a mess, her eyes were wild.
“Corvayne get your shit! We gotta leave, they found me!”