11

Dissension

Cricket swung a sickle at one of the practice dummy's six arms, and the force of the blow caused the opposite arm to swing at him. He ducked and made four swipes, one with each arm, against various parts of the dummy. The way Jesh rigged each set of arms to spin meant the faster he moved, and the harder he hit, the faster the dummy moved in response. Really it was a great workout.

Jeshu had suggested making the dummy with four arms, but Cricket talked him up to six, preferring to fight at a "disadvantage"

Each set of arms was secured to a rotating disk, and two of the arms swiveled at the elbow, which meant they often wrapped around his guard and pelted him on the side of the head. But he was getting the hang of it.

Nearby Agena trained his pet mimic. He threw a symbol with his hands, and the octopus attempted to mimic different colors and shapes based on each cue. It turned a sickly green, fairly close to a goblin to be fair, and wrapped its eight tentacles in sets of two, walking upright, appearing to have only four limbs. Next, it tucked all eight arms beneath it and turned as grey as the rocks, taking on the appearance of a boulder. Finally, it took on the form of a small crab, matching the ochre tone, walking about on six legs and waving the last two like pincers.

Jeshu argued futilely that it was a "large" crab.

Each time the mimic followed instructions correctly, Agena tossed it a live sardine and the octopus happily gobbled its snack.

When Agena's bucket ran out of fish, he dismissed the mimic and it crawled back into its salty, underwater lair.

Cricket caught his breath and asked if the lizardman would like to spar.

Agena smiled, uncharacteristically, and grabbed a dull practice spear carved from mushroomwood.

Cricket exchanged his weapons for wooden swords and daggers as well, and then Jeshu blessed each of the combatants with a grace of protection. The white light of the spell quickly faded from Agena, though the magic affected him unseen. Cricket's turtle necklace, however, still glowed very faintly, even after he received the grace.

Damien never allowed sparring, having lost too many ratlings to "fits of passion" in the heat of battle. And a near equal amount in revenge stabbings afterward. But this led to untrained and even lazy troops, entirely unprepared for the harsh realities of battle. Under this new system, Cricket found, the veterans were able to pass on their knowledge without serious injuries. Though few veteran ratlings remained, and others who claimed to be proficient were quickly found out to be frauds.

Several ratlings and lizardmen gathered around to watch their instructors and place wagers on the winner. Not surprisingly, the bets fell largely along racial lines.

Agena charged. He swung his spear overhead, and then right before it hit Cricket's block he retracted and stabbed, a trick the insect had taught him to use against faster foes.

Cricket jumped backward and deflected simultaneously, preferring two lines of defense, then waited at the limit of the lizard's range, circling.

Agena thrust again, and this time Cricket charged in as he parried, knocking the spear aside with one wooden sword as he brought the other down over his opponent's head.

Agena ducked beneath the extended shaft, narrowly avoiding a solid hit and retreated. Despite his instincts to stay in close, the lizard found himself victim to the insect's daggers too often. Instead, at Cricket's instruction, he now tried to keep his distance, moving backward as he stabbed, circling to hide behind his weapon when Cricket lunged.

Each time Cricket blocked a thrust, the insect tried to use the opportunity to close the gap, and Agena retreated further, stabbing to cover his retreat.

Cricket threw a dagger at Agena's head. The lizardman ducked, dropping his spear, then charged with his head down, under Cricket's swords, toward his dagger-free side. He wrapped his arms around the insect's waist.

Cricket abandoned his swords as well and wrapped one upper arm over the lizard's neck, reaching beneath to tighten his grip with the other arm. He twisted both of his legs around one of Agena's and the two tumbled to the ground.

A moment later the lizard tapped Cricket's back twice, indicating a forfeit. Cricket released his grip on the lizard, but kept his last dagger against Agena's throat for a moment for the benefit of the audience.

Agena growled, attempting to hide his smile.

The insect lay on the ground catching a few deep breaths, then rolled backward, nimbly onto his feet.

Scorpion requested a turn against Agena, and Cricket retreated from the ring.

After Jeshu placed a blessing on the ratling, the druid came to sit by the insectoid.

Jeshu showed no signs of fatigue. However, just a few weeks prior, bestowing three graces in a row would have completely drained him. Of course, Cricket had a hard time guessing at his reserves. But the druid was improving.

"That was impressive," Jeshu stated. "He's easily twice your size."

"I've been practicing a lot with that mace. So when I'm not holding it, I feel light as a feather."

"You're handling it really well. So your arms feel stronger?"

"Actually, you know what wore out first? My legs. I didn't expect it, but trying to move quickly with all that extra weight hurt in my knees and my ankles. Once they got used to the weight, it was a lot easier to train with. And I can move a lot faster than I could before."

Jeshu pressed his dry lips, impressed. "Where is Oydd?"

"He's been shut up in his lab for days. He's really frustrated at losing both of his ghouls."

"I would imagine," Jeshu replied. "Should we check up on him?"

"Maybe. He said he spent over a hundred hours between the two. And we're low on the metals he needs to make more."

The dryad's eyes widened. "I had no idea he spent so much time preparing each corpse."

Cricket nodded. "He doesn't want to go on any missions right now. He said he would need to make a common zombie. He clearly wanted pity." Cricket changed the subject. "I saw you magicking some mushrooms."

"Yes," Jeshu said. "I couldn't get them to grow because I didn't understand them. But I am beginning to. Nothing impressive yet."

Cricket stood up just as Scorpion took a nasty hook to the jaw from Agena's free fist. The ratling flew backward and rolled three times before coming to a stop at Cricket's feet—a blow that surely would have broken bone without Jeshu's spell.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"Agena," Cricket called out. "We're heading off. You're in charge. Have everyone pair up to go over grabs and locks."

Agena nodded silently.

"Come on," Cricket said to the druid, and the two headed for Oydd's lab.

Not surprisingly, they found the door locked. Jeshu gave a solid knock.

"Even if he hears you, he's just going to ignore it."

"I agree. But I'm not knocking for him."

After a short wait, Cricket heard a click on the far side of the door and it swung open. Patches peered around the edge of the iron door from where she balanced on the handle, then dropped down to the floor.

"Thank you, little one." Jeshu bowed and then began to descend into the laboratory.

They found Oydd in the morgue, working at the side of a half-covered cadaver.

"Damn it." The rudra moved from the body to a corner of the morgue with jars of live beetles and maggots. He selected the jar of maggots and returned to the work table where he poured the contents of the bottle into an open wound. He had evidently not heard the resounding knock moments before and jumped when Cricket spoke.

"What is that for?"

Oydd growled and neither looked up nor answered.

Cricket folded his arms and scratched his chin with his hand. "We need to discuss our next objective. You can't just avoid us forever."

Oydd raised a hand and a scalpel rose from a distant table then floated across the room, where it landed delicately in his fingers. "I see little point."

"What do you mean by that?"

Oydd made an incision on the inside of the cadaver's forearm. However, Cricket noticed the arm and the tail did not match. The rudra had sewn a leg, the tail, and pelvis of a small lizardman together with the torso and arm of a goblin. At the moment the corpse only had one arm and one leg.

"I mean," Oydd continued, "that our missions have been fruitless. In fact," he held a finger up to Cricket's face. "They have been less than fruitless. We have been puppets to these Right Hand cultists."

"What do you mean?" Cricket asked, bewildered.

"Exactly what I said." Oydd lifted a hand, attempting to levitate the empty bottle back to the shelf, but misjudged the necessary force, and the glass jar crashed against the tiled wall, splitting in half."

"Mouseling!" Oydd hissed and looked around for his assistant.

"I would like you to clarify," Cricket said, undaunted.

"We've been pitted against ourselves," Oydd explained in annoyance. "Ask yourself, did we see any signs of gnolls living in the marsh tunnels."

"No."

"Then where did they come from? And Gad, when he was alive, had sacrificed a leg to Bale. I don't remember if I told you that."

"So?" Cricket asked patiently.

"So... insect... he was an agent of the Right Hand. If you recall, we hid our presence for that mission. You traveled as if to the refinery and then backtracked underground to the catacombs. You wouldn't have been attacked if we had made our presence known. But Damien wanted us to die."

"Damien?" Jeshu asked.

"Yes, Damien... Mouseling!" Oydd shouted again irritably, still looking about for Patches. Seeing she didn't respond he continued. "Same in the catacombs and on the caravan and in the marsh. In each case we were exposed, to be picked off by agents of the Right Hand. We were baited into those tunnels with the gnolls."

"That was after Damien died," Jeshu reminded the rudra.

"Yes, but I have his notes," Oydd sighed. "Believe me, I have thought long and hard, and there is only one explanation. Damien worked for the cultists. He betrayed us."

"If that's true, he betrayed the dhampiri," Cricket replied. "I see nothing wrong with that."

"Another issue of you not objecting to being used," Oydd spat. "I object. And..." the rudra paused, "I believe sending those seventeen ratlings to die was intended to cull the herd."

"Meaning it was intentional?" Jeshu asked.

"Yes... meaning it was intentional."

"Why?" Cricket peered behind an empty autopsy table looking for the mouseling. "Damien seemed surprised to find out they had died."

"And he's never deceived us before?" the rudra asked sardonically. "But to answer your first question, I'm not quite sure yet. But almost every mission we've been on in the last few months has been designed to thin our ranks. I say almost, because I don't believe that was Licephus' intention. I believe he was genuinely shocked to be betrayed. But he directed this latest mission, and we ended up playing into our enemies' hands anyway."

Cricket thought. "That means Jade works for the cultists."

"Not an absurd conclusion," Oydd replied.

"So we should take him down."

"Now you're getting absurd! Thanks for not disappointing me."

"That's not absurd. It's our next logical step."

Oydd set his scalpel down. "Jade single-handedly beat seventeen ratlings. Do you believe you could repeat that feat?"

Cricket nodded too quickly.

"Just like you could take four Agenas?"

"I thought that over and realized I also thought I could take four of myself. And that doesn't make sense."

"It's learning logic..." Oydd said caustically.

"But in my defense, it's a confidence thing. I have to fight things bigger than me all the time, whether I want to or not. I have to convince myself I can win, or I lose before the fight starts."

"I'm sorry." Oydd tapped a finger impatiently on the metal table. "That makes sense. I don't think you're an idiot. You made me look a fool before Yunaba..."

In the sudden silence, Cricket heard the mouseling cleaning up the broken glass. He stared Oydd in the eyes. "Together we can take out Jade. It's one assassin. I can't let those murders go unanswered."

"You certainly could," Oydd replied.

"And he works for the cultists."

"It isn't a priority."

"I think it is. And I will go with or without you."

"You will stay here," Oydd ordered coldly. "Until I assign you a mission."

Cricket glared at Oydd. "I don't take orders from you. We agreed to do this together."

"I could send the kor hounds after you," Oydd threatened half-heartedly.

"Those reptilian things in the stables? The ones that I feed scraps of dried eel to every day, and they let me rub their bellies? Good luck with that."

Oydd's eyes softened, almost sadly, and he returned to his work. "I won't try to stop you, Cricket. But I don't condone your actions. And I must stay here in case Licephus returns. I have a surprising amount to report to him."

Oydd uncovered the rest of the corpse and Cricket gasped at the sight. The rudra had attached a black ratling head to the creation and a matching arm lay nearby waiting to be sewn on.

"Is that?"

Oydd sighed. "It's Skunk's remains. His head was still intact, and I salvaged what I could."

"And you intend to turn him into a ghoul?"

"No... nothing so crude. If my experiment works, I believe I can restore his life."

"Why?" Jeshu asked.

"Because I can. Or I believe I can..."

Cricket stared at the remains of his friend.

Jeshu stated, "It's an abomination."

Oydd shrugged indifferently. "I would say... an aberration."

The druid looked to Cricket, concerned, but the insect waved him off and spoke softly. "He didn't want to die."

Cricket turned to leave, looking morose, and Jeshu dropped the subject.